Makai Lemon joins the Eagles after a wild sequence at the NFL Draft
- Alex Isaiah
- Apr 24
- 3 min read
The Philadelphia Eagles select wide receiver Makai Lemon with the 20th overall pick in the NFL Draft. Philadelphia traded up from 23 to 20 with their rival, the Dallas Cowboys, to select Lemon. Lemon is the Biletnikoff Award winner after an All-American season at the University of Southern California. He joins a star-studded Eagles offense with Jalen Hurts, Devonta Smith, and Saquon Barkley, and new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion gets a new young star for his offense. The Eagles went with offense for their first pick, which comes as no surprise given how lackluster Philadelphia was on that side of the ball. This also confirms the belief that they will trade star AJ Brown before June 1st.
Lemon went viral during the draft because the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were set to draft him at 21, were already on the phone with him while the Eagles were making their move to 20. The Eagles started calling to let him know they were going to pick him, but couldn't because he was on the phone with the Steelers. Lemon asked the GM, “Why is Philly calling?” Lemon said afterwards, “I was definitely shocked. Definitely, I couldn’t be happier that they did. So I’m super blessed. It was the right time, the right team, and everything worked out just how it was supposed to be.” The team agrees GM Howie Roseman is in love with his pick. “He has a lot to like about him — competitor, has the ability to separate in man coverage, out of the slot, he can play outside. Physical player, really good with the ball in his hands, really good hands, really good in zone coverage, has really good insights.”
During his three years at USC, Makai earned 2,000 receiving yards, 137 catches, and 16 total touchdowns. Lemon is well known for his route running and his run after the catch, as he often returned kicks for the Trojans.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni loves this about Lemon: “insane ability to catch the ball in contested situations. I love his toughness, I think this guy is a tough, tough football player with the way he carries the football, and when he has the football in his hands and how he blocks. Insanely competitive, so there’s a lot to like.” In his final year at USC, Makai earned unanimous All-American honors after racking up 1,156 yards on 79 catches, and though it did not translate to much success for USC, he was a consensus top receiver in the nation. Lemon brings this talent to Philadelphia, joining a lot of receiving talent already present with former Heisman and Super Bowl Champion Devonta Smith, Marquise Brown, a seven-year veteran, and Dallas Goedert. He joins AJ Brown, who is still on the roster, but the belief is that Brown will be traded by June 1st.
GM Howie Roseman has not changed his tune on the AJ Brown rumors, saying, “Again, [A.J. Brown] is a member of the Eagles.” We don’t have any trades that have been made or completed. I think for us, we’re taking this one day at a time. We’re going to look to improve the team tomorrow, and we’ll continue to address anything that we have to with our roster, not only through this draft weekend, but we’ll continue to look for ways to improve the team throughout the offseason and as we get into training camp.” The Eagles have three more picks to make on the second draft night as they look to continue to improve the roster. Their biggest needs are still on the defensive end, an offensive guard, and the safety position. Expect them to draft there first, but they will never shy away from picking the best overall player.
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