Makai Lemon

Former wide receiver at USC. 2025: 79 catches, 1,156 receiving yards, 11 TD.

WR · USC · Jr. · #6

5′11″ · 195 lb · Los Alamitos, CA

CFB Index 91 · #6 of 485 WRsHigh confidenceConsensus AADrafted by Philadelphia — Rd 1, Pick 20, #20 overall

The numbers

1,156

receiving yards · 2025

79 catches · 11 TD · 14.6 per catch

Backed by 10 rec · 153 yds · 1 TD -- top 1% catches game.

The play that turned itSwung USC from 49% to 81% to win.UCLA at USC · 29-10

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former wide receiver at USC. 2025: 79 catches, 1,156 receiving yards, 11 TD.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to USC in 2023.
Drafted round 1 by the Philadelphia in 2026.
Named All-America (AFCA) in 2025.

The full story, with sources

How he plays

Wins underneath on volume and route precision.

Explosive rate: 91st percentile.

The full scouting read

How it ended

Three seasons at USC, 2,008 receiving yards, a Consensus All-American season (2025) — drafted at #20 overall by Philadelphia.

His career

He arrived as a blue-chip recruit and played like one.

The week the volume broke through — put up 161 yds vs Northwestern.Northwestern · W 38-172025

20235 games

Signed with USC4-star out of Los Alamitos

202411 games

The role got bigger.

All-Big Tenthird

202512 games

All-Big Tenfirst
All-America13 selectors
Biletnikoffwinner

2026

Drafted by Philadelphiaround 1, pick 20

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#44 national

CFB

College

USC

2023–2025

NFL

NFL Draft

R1 · #20

Philadelphia · 2026

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

15 honors · 2 categories

🏆

ALL-AMERICA · CONSENSUS

Consensus AA (2025)

11 first-team selectors

🥈

ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM

All-Big Ten 1st team (2025)

Coaching lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach

2023–2025

Lincoln Riley

USC

Played his entire career under Lincoln Riley.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

Philadelphia2026 NFL rookie season

#20Rd 1 · Pick 20

Philadelphia2026 NFL rookie season

View college career stats ↓

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Lincoln Riley — 24-15 over that span.

2023USC8-5HC: Lincoln Riley · Pass-leaning, slow tempo

2024USC7-6HC: Lincoln Riley · Pass-leaning

2025USC9-4HC: Lincoln Riley · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

91All-America level #6 of 485?

High confidenceSustained Ascent13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: explosive rate (91st percentile). Strength: yards / catch (86th percentile). Concern: rush yards (28th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#75 / 798 · 91st pct

18.6%

Yards / catch#114 / 798 · 86th pct

15.0

TD rate#159 / 798 · 80th pct

4.9%

EPA / target#187 / 798 · 77th pct

0.59

Catch rate#267 / 798 · 67th pct

72.5%

Box-score rates (8)

Rec yards#8 / 558 · 99th pct

1156

Rec TDs#9 / 558 · 98th pct

Receptions#11 / 558 · 98th pct

Rush TDs#7 / 287 · 96th pct

Long catch#63 / 558 · 88th pct

Yards / catch#154 / 558 · 72nd pct

14.6

Fumbles lost#86 / 218 · 36th pct

Rush yards#204 / 287 · 28th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

61st → 77th percentile

Explosive rate

82nd → 91st percentile

Catch rate

63rd → 67th percentile

TD rate

31st → 80th percentile

Yards / catch

80th → 86th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

18%18 of his 102 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	7.1	116	20.1	1.0
Road5g	5.8	68.4	11.8	0.8

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	7.3	114	17.5	1.0
Weeks 8+6g	5.8	79.0	15.8	0.8

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Lincoln Riley

Pass share

46.0%

97 pass / 114 run

Plays / game

70.3

3 games

Team sack rate

2.0%

102 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Consensus All-American

First team on a majority of the recognized selector lists.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

91 · #6 of 485 WRs

Former four-star. Now #6 at the position.

One of 52 players who were elite at two different things in 2025. See the others ›

Selector Grid · 2025

AP—

FWAA—

AFCA—

WCFF—

SN—

SI—

Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	USC	79	1,156	14.6	11	--
2024	USC	52	764	14.7	3	--
2023	USC	6	88	14.7	0	--
Career		137	2,008	14.7	14	--

Season	Team
2025	USC	9	4	144	71	--
2024	USC	--	--	514	--	--
2023	USC	--	--	94	--	--
Career		9	4	752	71	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 12 · 2025

W 26–21

vs Iowa

1 rush yds (1 car)

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 5 at home.

With J. Maiava — 254 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 88.7 · 11 rush yds (5 car) · R. Sayeri — 40 LONG · 100 PCT · 8 PTS

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 2 · Georgia Southern · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +6.01Jayden Maiava pass complete to Makai Lemon for 74 yds for a TD (Ryon Sayeri KICK)
Week 2 · Georgia Southern · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +4.95Jayden Maiava pass complete to Makai Lemon for 62 yds for a TD (Ryon Sayeri KICK)
Week 5 · Illinois · 3&16 · Q3 · EPA +4.12Jayden Maiava pass complete to Makai Lemon for 29 yds to the ILL 33 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Notre Dame · 3&9 · Q4 · EPA +4.11Jayden Maiava pass complete to Makai Lemon for 42 yds to the ND 37 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Notre Dame · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA -3.95Makai Lemon run for a loss of 13 yards to the 50 yard line Makai Lemon fumbled, recovered by USC Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa , return to the 50 yard line
Week 5 · Illinois · 4&8 · Q4 · EPA +3.92Makai Lemon 19 Yd pass from Jayden Maiava (Jayden Maiava Pass to Makai Lemon for Two-Point Conversion)
Week 11 · Northwestern · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.51(11:40) No Huddle-Shotgun #14 J.Maiava pass complete deep middle to #6 M.Lemon caught at NU48, for 52 yards to the NU25 (#2 F.Davis II), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Week 12 · Iowa · 2&9 · Q3 · EPA +3.37(07:12) No Huddle-Shotgun #14 J.Maiava pass complete deep middle to #6 M.Lemon caught at IOWA46, for 35 yards to the IOWA46 (#6 Z.Lutmer), 1ST DOWN
Week 4 · Michigan State · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +3.19Jayden Maiava pass complete to Makai Lemon for 40 yds for a TD (Ryon Sayeri KICK)
Week 7 · Michigan · 2&8 · Q2 · EPA +3.05Jayden Maiava pass complete to Makai Lemon for 28 yds to the MICH 45 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 73-13vs Missouri State	7	90	12.9	0	26
Wk 2	W 59-20vs Georgia Southern	4	158	39.5	2	74	2 TD catches
Wk 3	W 33-17@ Purdue	5	63	12.6	0	21
Wk 4	W 45-31vs Michigan State	8	127	15.9	1	40
Wk 5	L 32-34@ Illinois	11	151	13.7	2	29	2 TD catches
Wk 7	W 31-13vs Michigan	9	93	10.3	1	28
Wk 8	L 24-34@ Notre Dame	4	76	19.0	0	42
Wk 10	W 21-17@ Nebraska	2	18	9.0	0	16
Wk 11	W 38-17vs Northwestern	11	161	14.6	1	52	Season-high 161 yds
Wk 12	W 26-21vs Iowa	10	153	15.3	1	35	153-yard receiving day
Wk 13	L 27-42@ Oregon	7	34	4.9	2	9	2 TD catches
Wk 14	W 29-10vs UCLA	1	32	32.0	1	32
Total		79	1156	16.6	11	74

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology