What USC's Makai Lemon Could Bring to the Rams

The Los Angeles Rams are in full-throttle mode for the offseason, prepped and fueled for an aggressive push in free agency and the draft as they look to establish themselves as the favorites to win Super Bowl LXI next season.

With needs for explosive playmakers on both sides of the ball, the Rams will have plenty of money to spend and two first-round draft picks to utilize in April's NFL Draft. While cornerback remains the top priority for Los Angeles, free agency could open the door to the potential selection of an offensive playmaker, specifically from a local institution. Let's look at USC Trojans star Makai Lemon and what he brings to the table.

Overview of Lemon

Lemon Rams — Nov 7, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans wide receiver Makai Lemon (6) runs the ball against Northwestern Wildcats cornerback Fred Davis II (2) during the second half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

A true junior and native of Los Alamitos, California, Lemon was one of the top wide receiver recruits in the country as a five-star prospect. He originally committed to Oklahoma to join Lincoln Riley in Norman, but when Riley left for USC, Lemon tagged along, joining long-time friend and teammate Malachi Nelson in Southern California.

While the friends never got to light up the scoreboard together, Lemon kept at it. Last season, Lemon was one of the top playmakers in the country, catching 79 passes for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns, showcasing elite productivity and playmaking ability for the Trojans. Lemon will now enter the NFL Draft as one of the best wide receiver prospects in the class.

Strengths of Lemon

At an unverified 5-foot-11, 195 pounds, this is a player with room left for growth, and what is already brought to the table is outstanding. Lemon has a great understanding of how to manipulate defenders to create consistent separation on all three levels by attacking leverage points and utilizing head fakes and jab steps to create separation at the top of his routes. He has wonderful savviness as a route runner and knows where to hit is landmarks on specific concepts.

This is a good functional athlete with a fun build-up explosiveness, and body control that allows him to carry momentum and quickness through his routes. Lemon is skilled at finding voids against shell coverages with great vision for the field pre-snap and during his routes. He also possesses high-level ball skills with excellent tracking due to ample hand-eye coordination that allows him to come down with any pass in his general bubble.

Lemon possesses some impressive run-after-catch skills, despite not being an overly explosive player off the line of scrimmage or after the catch. He is fluid with ample short-area quickness to maximize yardage for chunk plays, along with the creativity to make defenders miss in space consistently.

Lemon has the toolkit to be an ample winner against press coverage at the line. Furthermore, he has shown to be a reliable blocker, offering great technique and effort on the perimeter, which will hold value to many teams with interest in adding a dynamic player to their offense.

Weaknesses for Lemon

As previously mentioned, Lemon is not going to provide teams with an ungodly burst off the line of scrimmage. He also doesn't have a large catch radius to aid him at times along the sidelines when working for a contested throw wide of the field or the boundary. While Lemon does have a toolkit to grow against press, his arms aren't long enough to fend off longer corners at the line, and he must continue to find more ways to beat them in the meantime.

What Lemon could bring to the Rams

Snead Rams — May 23, 2023, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead during organized team activities at Cal Lutheran. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Lemon is an intelligent and savvy wide receiver with a terrific pass-catching skill set that translates seamlessly to the next level. He offers the route-running ability, football IQ, separation ability, high-end ball skills, and run-after-catch toolkit to be an immediate impact playmaker as either a slot or Z-receiver when drafted.

The former five-star recruit must continue to work toward improving and adding more to his toolkit to defeat press coverage. While his physicality and natural limitations could affect him in some areas, Lemon would still be a terrific target and utilized player in the Rams offense to pair with Puka Nacua and succeed the aging Davante Adams, who led the NFL in receiving touchdowns this season.

Lemon Ram — Jul 24, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; USC wide receiver Makai Lemon speaks to the media during the Big Ten NCAA college football media days at Mandalay Bay Resort. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images | Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

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