April 24, 2026
Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Imagn Images
NFL scouts had very positive things to tell PhillyVoice about Eagles first-round wide receiver Makai Lemon.
"They got a great one."
That was the very first reply to PhillyVoice after one longtime NFL personnel executive was asked to summarize Makai Lemon, the wide receiver who the Eagles took in the first round Thursday night at 20th overall.
The Eagles traded up three spots for the USC wideout, switching places with the rival Cowboys and jumping ahead of the Steelers – who if you don't know by now really, really wanted Lemon for themselves.
Lemon was a very productive college receiver who has alignment versatility, excels in the middle of the field and competes fiercely, but he also lacks elite speed and athleticism. He clocked a 4.47 in the 40 at his pro day. His arm length is 30.5 inches. By no means will he be an apples-to-apples replacement for A.J. Brown after the Eagles finally trade their star receiver.
But the overall feedback on Lemon from three different NFL personnel people who also spoke to PhillyVoice earlier this week to size up several NFL Draft prospects was overwhelmingly positive.
All three, who only spoke on the condition of anonymity, have more than two decades of experience in NFL college scouting. None of them work for the Eagles. Two of them were reached via phone for a longer conversation while one responded via text.
Here's what the one scout reached via text wrote:
"Real quick, good route runner. Good hands and ball skills. Small but real polished. Really good player."
This scout added that he projected Lemon as a "Z" recevier or slot wideout, someone who plays off the line of scrimmage to avoid press coverage, which the "X" receiver typically draws. A.J. Brown is an "X" receiver.
This scout's team had Lemon as the third-highest receiver prospect on the board, behind Carnell Tate and Jordyn Tyson, each of whom went in the top eight. (I didn't ask which of Tyson or Tate they had ranked higher).
For this story, we will refer to the other two personnel execs as "Scout A" and "Scout B." This is how each of them sized up Lemon:
Scout A: "I don't like Makai; I love Makai. Love Makai ... tough as sh*t, will block his ass off and I haven’t even talked about the receiver sh*t. He’s smart as f*ck, runs routes, understands defenses, understand where he needs to be. He's faster than what people think. He catches anything and everything. Will go across the middle, do all the dirty work. He's a route runner to a T, has great releases, can run the sh*t out of the ball. Good receivers in the league have to have RAC [run after catch]. He has that. And he's a punt returner."
Scout B: "He's smaller, that's not ideal, but he's super strong, super explosive. We had a legit [first-round] grade on him. He can play outside, but just a lack of speed for being a height/size/radius-deficient player. Arm length is not ideal but he high points, contested [catch] all at a big-time level. There’s [punt] return value there as well, which is huge. He doesn’t waste any movement. He attacks, he's really smart in space, tracking angles. Can he consistently win outside? I don't know. He should be a Pro Bowl slot if anything type of player. If I had a pick in the 20s, that would've been a no-brainer."
Scout A: "You can use him anywhere, inside or outside. He can play both [Z and slot]. He would kill the inside game. He can go outside if y’all need him to. He can do it all, man – run after catch, the toughness, the contested catches. He can catch it in tight windows, but he's going to go take it from you. The thing is, he’s not a 6-foot dude. He's a 5-11 guy, but that dude plays big."
Scout B: "I think he can play outside but I don't think he'll be winning there consistently, especially with his arm length. I think he can play outside in bunch sets. I don't see him just doing vertical routes and winning at that level. For his size, his play strength is great, in terms of catching the ball in those areas – that's intermediate routes and then RAC after that. He's not gonna go down easy. He’s ready to go. He probably should have been a top-15 guy."
Scout A: "That's what everyone thinks because he didn't run fast, but he has a burst. He’s a mover. He’s not gonna come off the ball and take you out. Once he gets past that 20-yard mark, you’ll see a burst. He goes and gets the ball, man. If you play him in the slot, the people who are going to be covering him, he can maneuver with them."
Scout B: "If you're saying he's going to win [deep sideline] ... I don't see that happening consistently to where you say, 'Let's put him outside 60-percent of the time,' but yeah, the kickoff value and punt return value, I think he’s a good dual returner.”
Scout A: "He's smart, work ethic is crazy, but he's a quiet dude. He's not gonna say much. He has to trust you then he'll pull you a little bit in. He has to believe you have his best interest – then he will give you the world. He was suspended a quarter of the UCLA game. Something happened. That was out of his character. But the one thing is about this guy, he loves football and is all ball."
Scout B: "He had one half-game suspension for doing something, other than that it’s been top-tier. The mental makeup has been fine."
Scout A: "Maybe [Amon-Ra] St. Brown. I guess Brown would be it. I think people were saying he was going to go to the Rams because of [Puka Nacua comps], but [Lemon] doesn't have to be in a schematic offense to be good. That's another thing I like about him. That's why I honestly believe he can play inside and out."
Scout B: "Some say the guy in Seattle [Jaxson Smith-Njigba]; I don't see that at all. JSN is way more explosive with speed. [St. Brown] is a good one. At the same point, I like [Lemon] better. Play strength, after-the-catch stuff is really good. That's the thing about this guy, he goes into these contested areas and gets balls even though he has 30-inch arms. He's fearless and he's super strong and he doesn’t waste any movement.”
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