The Los Angeles Rams have already shown an interest in now-former USC Trojans star Makai Lemon before the 2026 draft. They are certainly poised to land him with the 13th overall pick.
Lemon is a Los Alamitos native, so he has been in the Rams’ backyard all along.
Now, the Rams are seeing increased calls to make it official and draft Lemon. There are even analytics to back up the push as the draft draws near.
Rams Get Strong Words on Makai Lemon
GettyMakai Lemon #6 of the USC Trojans takes the field during a game against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
NFL.com’s Peter Schrager utilized the site’s IQ Mock Draft Tracker, and he noted that the “name that keeps coming up in my eyes” for the Rams was Lemon. Schrager found a “whopping 16%” of mock drafts in the system had the Rams selecting Lemon with the 13th overall pick.
Per Schrager, that was 7% more than former Utah offensive lineman Spencer Fano, who is the second most-frequently mocked player for LA.
Schrager did not stop there, though.
“In my search for more in-depth analysis on Lemon, I discovered some rather wild disparities between the player’s athleticism and his production,” Schrager said in a video that he posted on X on April 13.
“I asked a simple question: How does Makai Lemon match up against the other top wide receivers in this draft? What I got back was fascinating. The first prompt that comes up is the data from NextGenStats, and that ranks Lemon as the 34th of 46 wide receivers in this draft class when it comes to athleticism. But the next piece of information from the AI Assistant reveals that he’s ranked first in this entire draft class of wide receivers in production.”
Lemon had 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns on 79 receptions for the Trojans last season, and he finished his time in SoCal with a 137-2009-14 line.
Schrager noted that the 5-foot-11 Lemon’s uninspiring 40-yard dash would fit the mold in LA.
Makai Lemon Draws Familiar Comparisons
GettyMakai Lemon #6 of the USC Trojans reacts during a game against the UCLA Bruins.
Lemon’s game has been compared to Rams star Puka Nacua, despite their size difference. Schrager found similar results in his search.
“[Lemon’s] testing numbers for sure will not wow you. His athleticism score will not wow you. But he is so good. He is as tough, as smart, and as crafty a wide receiver in this draft. And guess who else didn’t have 4.3 40[-yard dashes] or jumped through the roof coming out of college? Oh, I don’t know, Rams fellow wide receivers Davante Adams, Puka Nakua,” Schrager said.
“I asked the AI Assistant for a good NFL comp, and the name that it gave me was fellow USC legend Amon-Ra St. Brown, whose career, I would say, has worked out fairly well despite not having wild combine numbers or a workout score. Lemon won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top wide receiver last year. He was a First Team Associated Press All-American, he was First Team All-Big Ten Conference, and he was named the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year. And like fellow of my mock drafters, I believe the Rams are a perfect fit.”
None of those comparisons is new. They do, however, reinforce what has been a prevailing notion about Lemon and, potentially, his fit with the Rams.
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