Makai Lemon's Combine Podium Performance Didn't Bother Nfl Team Executives

Makai Lemon sewage different chance Thursday to show his skills for NFL scouts.

About 50 of them — representatives from each of nan 32 teams — gathered astatine USC to walk a fewer hours evaluating nan school’s latest people of draught prospects. Lemon, who won nan Biletnikoff Award past autumn arsenic assemblage football’s apical receiver, had everyone’s attention.

“Running bully routes, catching nan ball, moving fast,” he said of his objectives for nan day. “Whatever I showcase, fto them cognize I tin do it astatine a precocious level.”

It was a much comfortable mounting than Indianapolis. At nan scouting combine, Lemon’s capacity astatine nan podium drew scrutiny — not for thing he said, but for really he said it. He swayed. He was measured, unhurried, visibly unbothered. Some publication it arsenic detached. Others saw thing other entirely.

“We don’t want a feline who’s phony and coached up,” said 1 squad executive, speaking connected information of anonymity. “We want a feline to beryllium his authentic self. As agelong arsenic he’s not a jerk, we emotion it.”

Rams wide head Les Snead, who attended Thursday’s workout of 17 USC players, put it different way. “At nan harvester you’re usually getting immoderate type of a personality,” he said. “A batch of times it’s, ‘This is my question and reply personality,’ and that’s not needfully who they are 365 days a year.”

USC receiver Makai Lemon catches walk during a drill astatine nan NFL harvester successful Indianapolis past month.

(Julio Cortez / Associated Press)

The different USC prospects who participated successful Thursday’s workouts were receivers Ja’Kobi Lane, Jaden Richardson and Jay Fair; moving backmost Eli Sanders; tight extremity Lake McRee; violative linemen J’Onre Reed and DJ Wingfield; protect linemen Anthony Lucas and Keeshawn Silver; linebacker Eric Gentry; cornerbacks DJ Harvey and DeCarlos Nicholson; safeties Bishop Fitzgerald and Kamari Ramsey; punter Sam Johnson; and agelong snapper Hank Pepper.

Former Trojan linebacker Mason Cobb, who was connected nan squad successful 2024, besides participated.

Lemon’s credentials are not successful dispute. He vanished past play pinch 79 catches for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns. At 5-foot-11 and 192 pounds he’s not large for nan position, and according to a schoolhouse merchandise ran nan 40 successful 4.46 seconds, which is accelerated but not blistering. But those aren’t his main strengths.

“One of nan underrated aspects erstwhile you’re watching wide receivers is toughness, and he benignant of oozes toughness,” said Daniel Jeremiah, lead draught expert for NFL Network. “He catches everything. He’s ace beardown physically and ace beardown to nan ball.”

The method item that stands retired for Jeremiah: Lemon doesn’t time off his feet to drawback unless he has to. He stays grounded, keeps himself successful position to do thing aft nan shot arrives. Receivers who lunge and cradle successful nan aerial person obscurity to go. Receivers who drawback pinch their feet nether them move completions into much yards.

“He’s sewage a really bully consciousness for nan game,” Jeremiah said. “I deliberation he’s going to beryllium a high-volume guy. I deliberation he’ll drawback 90-plus balls each twelvemonth and beryllium nan quarterback’s champion friend.”

Snead, who has a history of uncovering productive receivers that others miss — among them Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua — is skeptical of nan 40 arsenic a measuring stick.

“You seldom spot a way successful shot wherever nan receiver runs consecutive for 40 yards and past makes his break,” he said. “Even connected a spell way you’re usually trying to get an separator connected nan defender, truthful you’re not moving straight. The 40 mightiness show you really galore gears you person successful your body. But sometimes you request to tally a way successful 3rd cogwheel and past displacement into 4th aliases fifth, aliases decelerate.”

Jeremiah ranks Lemon among nan 2 champion receivers successful this draft, giving a flimsy separator to Ohio State’s Carnell Tate, who projects arsenic much of a down-the-field, big-play threat. Comparisons to Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown (also a erstwhile USC player) and Tampa Bay’s Emeka Egbuka person circulated. Jeremiah sees those, but besides reaches backmost to Jarvis Landry, nan erstwhile Louisiana State standout who made 5 Pro Bowl appearances.

“I really deliberation Lemon is simply a amended subordinate than Jarvis Landry coming out,” Jeremiah said. “When you’re instinctive, you’re reliable and you drawback everything, that’s a beautiful precocious floor. Absolute worst case, you’re going to person a steady, dependable, reliable player.”

Watching from nan sideline Thursday was Marqise Lee, who won nan Biletnikoff successful 2012 — nan only different USC subordinate to do truthful — and was a second-round prime of nan Jacksonville Jaguars successful 2014. He has spent overmuch of nan past respective months arsenic a mentor to Lemon, and erstwhile nan harvester disapproval arrived Lee wasn’t amazed by immoderate of it.

“My biggest point to him was conscionable bask it,” Lee said. “I cognize he sewage a batch of backlash astir nan media worldly and things for illustration that, but erstwhile you cognize nan guy, he’s not a large talker. He’s calm, he’s each astir business.”

Lee believes Lemon has nan skills to thrive astatine nan adjacent level, but knows really overmuch discourse matters erstwhile a subordinate gets there.

“The convention is different until you really get location and get nan opportunity to believe and spell done it,” Lee said. “Some group person a difficult clip adapting. Once he gets connected a squad I’ll beryllium texting him: ‘How’s nan comfortableness level? How’s nan offense?’ Because that worldly matters. Offensive coordinator, group loving you — each that matters.”

Lemon, for his part, already sounds for illustration personification who has thought astir this.

“I want to spell successful location and beryllium myself,” he said. “Don’t want to effort to beryllium anybody else.”