{"id":564612,"date":"2026-04-04T18:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T18:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/564612\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T18:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T18:40:10","slug":"makai-lemon-sets-up-four-more-visits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/564612\/","title":{"rendered":"Makai Lemon Sets Up Four More Visits"},"content":{"rendered":"

As one of the best wide receivers in this year\u2019s draft class, USC\u2019s Makai Lemon<\/a> has a chance to come off the board in the top half of the first round. Several teams with high picks have met or will meet with Lemon, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com<\/a>. In addition to the previously reported Titans (No. 4), Commanders (seventh) and Saints (eighth)<\/a>, the Jets (second and 16th), Giants (fifth), Chiefs (ninth) and Dolphins (11th) are on the list.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The 5-foot-11, 192-pound Lemon lined up in the slot over 75% of the time during his three-year run in college. He got off to a quiet start with the Trojans in 2023, quarterback Caleb Williams<\/a>\u2018 last season at the helm. Lemon caught just six passes in nine games, but he made significant progress in his final two seasons at USC.<\/p>\n

After hauling in 52 passes for 754 yards and three touchdowns in 12 games in 2024, those numbers soared to 79-1,156-six in a dozen contests last year. Lemon earned the Fred Biletnikoff Award, which is given to the best receiver in college football, and finished his USC tenure with just four drops in 33 games.<\/p>\n

Whether Lemon is the best receiver in this year\u2019s class is up for debate, especially with Ohio State\u2019s Carnell Tate<\/a> in the mix. But Lemon at least appears to be a surefire first-rounder. In ranking Lemon as the No. 12 prospect available, Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com<\/a> writes that comparisons to Lions superstar and fellow USC product Amon-Ra St. Brown<\/a> are \u201cwarranted.\u201d Considering St. Brown has amassed a record 547 receptions in his first five seasons, that\u2019s lofty praise.<\/p>\n

Expecting a St. Brown-like impact may be unrealistic, but Lemon should provide an upgrade to his next team\u2019s receiving corps. He is probably not a candidate for the Jets at No. 2 overall, but if Lemon is still on the board for their second pick, they could grab him as a much-needed Garrett Wilson<\/a> complement. In heading to the Giants, Lemon would replace departed slot target Wan\u2019Dale Robinson<\/a> and partner with No. 1 receiver Malik Nabers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We learned Friday that Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice<\/a> will not face a suspension for domestic violence allegations<\/a>, but off-field issues and injuries have held him out of 23 games in his three-year career. Rice also has just one year left on his rookie contract. Regardless of whether he is part of the Chiefs\u2019 long-term plans, their receiving corps could stand to improve around Rice and 2024 first-rounder Xavier Worthy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, having traded<\/a> Jaylen Waddle<\/a> to the Broncos, the Dolphins clearly have the least talented cast of receivers in this bunch. Adding Lemon would give newly signed<\/a> starting quarterback Malik Willis<\/a> a second exciting weapon to pair with running back De\u2019Von Achane<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As one of the best wide receivers in this year\u2019s draft class, USC\u2019s Makai Lemon has a chance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[68019,399,1236,226445,1322,398,396,397,977,5702,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-564612","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","11":"tag-makai-lemon","12":"tag-miami-dolphins","13":"tag-ncaa","14":"tag-ncaa-football","15":"tag-ncaafootball","16":"tag-new-york-giants","17":"tag-new-york-jets","18":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}