Why Makai Lemon Could Have a DeVonta Smith Impact For Eagles in Rookie Season

Makai Lemon has only been in the Philadelphia Eagles organization for a month, yet the rookie first-round pick has made a strong first impression.

Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion has been working with Lemon closely over the duration of Phase Two of OTAs. Not only is Lemon getting up to speed, his practice habits are standing out.

"Makai's been a lot of fun to work with," Mannion said. "I'm really excited to bring him on board and I think the way he works at practice is really impressive. He's a tremendous young talent, but even just out at practice, you can see he practices really hard.

"He studies hard. He really takes a ton of pride in all the little details and that's a sign of a true pro and he's just getting started on that journey."

Having a strong month of practice is one thing, but is more in store for Lemon than just competing for the WR2 role?

The Eagles may have bigger plans for Lemon

Lemon is in a competition with Dontayvion Wicks for the WR2 role, even though both players are going to see the field a significant amount of snaps next season. The Eagles selected Lemon because he was a top-15 player on their board, while his route running and ability to create yards after the catch stood out.

The practice habits are one thing, but the plans for Lemon may be beyond that.

"With his degree of talent and the way he's been working, I really think he's going to do a lot of great stuff for us now and in the future," Mannion said. "His development's going to be great, but really excited about him.

"All the things we saw at USC, catches the ball really well, good after the catch, plays with toughness. That's something that Nick [Sirianni] really, really has built this program around and something [that] really resonated with me and Makai's a good example of that."

Lemon is going to have to earn the WR2 job, but a bigger role appears to be in store going forward. The Eagles are expected to have a high-volume passing attack based on getting the ball to the wide receivers' hands quickly.

There will be targets for Lemon, and opportunities. How heavy the offense will be featured around Smith and Lemon is unknown, yet there have been hints both wide recievers will see their fair share of targets.

The same goes for Wicks, as his summer will also be interesting as he finds his niche in the offense.

How Lemon is utilized in year one will be a huge factor in how this Eagles offense operates under Mannion. The way Lemon develops this summer, it wouldn't be surprising if he makes an immediate impact like Smith did in year one with the Eagles.

This is based on the early reviews from Mannion.

"The way he's wired out at practice, you can tell he's going to be a great playe," Mannion said. "We're excited to have him."

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