How Is College Football's Breakout Star Still Without a Trading Card?
In this story:
While most eyes during were on Arch Manning, Jeremiah Smith, or Dante Moore, it was a junior wide receiver in Los Angeles who may have seen his stock rise the most in Week 2 of the 2025 College Football Season. Though three catches for 91 yards and a score isn't normally enough to catapult a receiver into rarefied air, it was one of the catches in particular that turned the name Ja'Kobi Lane into a household name.
And if that highlight didn't do it for you, here it is again, en Español!
While the catch wasn't enough to jolt Ja'Kobi into serious Heisman contention or even leapfrog Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State as the college game's WR1, it was enough for SI's Caden Handwork to wonder if Lane and Trojan teammate Makhi Lemon might just be the best receiving tandem in college football.
RELATED: Get These Cards for the 2025 College Football Top Prospects
Even in this day and age, of course, it takes more than a single viral moment to create lasting stardom. Still, Lane's catch against Georgia Southern wasn't really a fluke as his numbers from 2024 demonstrate.
USC WR Ja'Kobi Lane on Contested Catches Last Season:
— PFF College (@PFF_College) April 7, 2025
⚔️ 84.9 PFF Grade
⚔️ 12 Contested Catches
⚔️ 6 Touchdowns (1st)
(🎥: @uscfb)
pic.twitter.com/vz4a94Y07e
At the moment, however, all collectors can do is marvel at the man's highlight film and look forward to his next eye-popping grab. As crazy as it sounds, Ja'Kobi Lane does not yet have any football cards to collect! Will that change soon? Probably. But in the meantime, Lane seems focused on far bigger things than NIL deals.
Don’t confuse the main thing college football is for. Get developed and go to the NFL. No amount of college Nil will help you get drafted.
— Ja'Kobi Lane (@cantGuardJak1) May 5, 2025
That's all well and good for Lane of course. Heck, it's even kind of refreshing. But speaking of refreshing, that might also describe exactly what collectors are doing with the Bowman U NOW web page every time Ja'Kobi adds another great catch to his college football highlight reel.
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.