Top Landing Spots For Makai Lemon In The 2026 NFL Draft

Round 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft will take place in just seven days on April 23 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the first round, the top prospects in the nation will be selected by their new NFL teams. One of those elite prospects is USC wide receiver Makai Lemon.

We have Lemon ranked as our No. 2 wide receiver prospect in this draft class. He is projected to be picked in the top half of the first round, and no one should be shocked if he's even the first wide receiver off the board.

While he is probably the most polished wide receiver entering the draft this season, the only thing holding him back is the fact that he is projected to be a slot receiver on the next level, rather than a true outside WR1. Still, he is extremely talented, and slot receivers continue to prove how valuable they can be in today's NFL.

Pick 1.5: New York Giants

This could be a bit high for Lemon, but wide receiver is one of the Giants' needs in this draft. After losing Wan'Dale Robinson in free agency and getting Malik Naber back from injury, Lemon could be a better fit than a wide receiver like Carnell Tate and Jordyn Tyson if wide receiver is the direction they decided to go with this pick. If the Giants were to trade back a few picks, then they would become a highly likely landing spot for New York.

Pick 1.7: Washington Commanders

Washington needs to upgrade their pass-catchers for quarterback Jayden Daniels. Deebo Samuel is expected to leave in free agency, and Terry McLaurin will be 31 this year and coming off the worst season of his career. Not only did he deal with injuries, but he wasn't overly productive when healthy either.

Bringing in a young stud like Lemon to pair with Daniels would be a massive upgrade for their offense. If McLaurin has a bounce-back year, all of a sudden that offense could be firing on all cylinders like we saw in 2024.

Pick 1.13: Los Angeles Rams

This is where we have Lemon projected to land, and it is one of the most common landing spots in mock drafts for any player after the first two picks. It just feels like the perfect fit. He could slide into the slot in Sean McVay's offense and immediately become a difference-maker.

The fact that the Rams have been fielding offers for Davante Adams has only further fueled the viewpoint that Lemon will land with the Rams unless someone ahead of them scoops him up. Pairing Lemon with Puka Nacua would make this passing attack even more terrifying. All the off-field issues with Nacua this offseason could also push them to draft a high-caliber person like Lemon, who is known to be a leader, worker, and everything a coach could want in his locker room.

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