Eagles News: Makai Lemon pick emphasizes that “the Eagles offense, and Jalen Hurts with it, needs to change”

Q: Why did the Eagles draft Makai Lemon?

The Eagles drafted Makai Lemon to enhance their offense and address the need for a versatile receiver who can operate effectively in the middle of the field.

Q: What challenges does Makai Lemon pose for Jalen Hurts?

Lemon's playing style requires Hurts to improve his comfort with throwing over the middle, which has not been a strong aspect of his game.

Q: How does Makai Lemon fit into the Eagles' receiving corps?

Lemon joins a talented group of receivers, including DeVonta Smith and potentially A.J. Brown, and his addition may signal changes in the team's offensive strategy.

Q: What are Makai Lemon's strengths as a wide receiver?

Lemon excels in finding space against zone coverage, making tough catches in contested situations, and has a strong successful play rate against man coverage.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 16: Jalen Hurts #1 of the Philadelphia Eagles in action against the Detroit Lions at Lincoln Financial Field on November 16, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) | Getty Images ***Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles news and links …*** Eagles take USC wide receiver Makai Lemon in the first round of NFL Draft: Five thoughts on the pick – PHLY Lemon’s addition makes it even more glaring: The Eagles offense, and Jalen Hurts with it, needs to change. Analyzing the fit for Lemon in what we expect for this Eagles offense, three key figures in the Eagles organization stand out as the ones who will have a major influence on whether Lemon reaches his ceiling. The first? Jalen Hurts. Lemon is more than capable of operating outside the numbers, but some of his primary strengths in college were finding space against zone coverage, working over the middle of the field on underneath routes, and consistently making defenders wrong on option routes. None of these align perfectly with Hurts’ skill set and would require a heightened comfortability from the 27-year-old attacking tight windows in zone coverages and throwing over the middle of the field. Eagles first-round draft grade: USC WR Makai Lemon – PhillyVoice Lemon’s fit in the Eagles’ offense, and the challenge he poses for Jalen Hurts 😬 Though he played outside a little at USC, Lemon was primarily a slot receiver, as noted above. He operates in the middle of the field, which is not where Jalen Hurts has shown he enjoys throwing the football. If Lemon is going to be a productive receiver for the Eagles, Hurts is going to have to embrace throwing over the middle, and to a receiver who does not have a wide catch radius. That’s a concern. Middle-of-the-field toughness. There is a fearlessness with Lemon that allows him to elevate and make tough catches in contested situations, specifically on throws over the middle of the field. Whether the throws are between the seams of the field with safeties bearing down or between linebackers, Lemon isn’t afraid to extend and leave his body exposed to potential hits in that area of the field. Lemon’s route running when he’s aligned in the slot, and even as an outside receiver, allows him to open up throwing windows when he is targeted in the middle of the field and downfield. According to TruMedia, Lemon had a 49.2% successful play rate vs. man coverage, as he displayed the ability to hit defensive backs’ blind spots. According to PFF, Lemon only played outside receiver 222 of his 756 snaps, and he showed excellent body control and ball-tracking ability when he aligned outside the numbers on vertical throws. Lemon won’t primarily live as an outside receiver, though, because he struggles to consistently win at the line of scrimmage against press man coverage and lacks the top-end speed to beat corners deep. Still, he caught 10 of his 14 contested catch attempts in 2025. There was a lot of thought (including from yours truly) that the Eagles focus on the trenches and take an offensive tackle but they’re going flashy and taking a pass-catcher! This moves all but seals ’s fate in Philly. If we exclude him, the Eagles now have Lemon, , , and as their top four projected wide receivers. , , , , and are also on the roster. Perhaps the Eagles couldn’t pass on the value with this pick. Lemon was the No. 12 prospect on the 2026 Arif Hasan NFL Draft Consensus Big Board. Winner: Literally everyone in the NFC East. At first this was just going to be about the Giants’ incredible haul, but as the draft progressed we saw everyone in the division kill it. […] Philadelphia Eagles: Getting Makai Lemon at No. 20 is just filthy, and it’s not like they needed the mid-round picks to bolster the back-end of the roster. Sure, pass rusher was more of a pressing need — but this is immediate insurance for when they eventually trade away A.J. Brown. Lemon is an elite slot receiver and will complement DeVonta Smith perfectly. Also, you get major troll points for jumping the during a draft in for some good in-state hatred. Join Fran Duffy, EJ Smith, Brandon Lee Gowton and Bo Wulf live throughout all of the NFL Draft’s first round! Why did Lemon fall? He’s only 5-11, 192. His Pro Days times were in the 4.45 to 4.50 range. That’s not ideal size or speed. And it isn’t an ideal combination. The thing that people sometimes overlook is how fast a guy plays. What good is 4.30 speed if the player is out of control or isn’t functional. ran 4.70 at the Combine. He had a knee issue that slowed him, but he was still never a burner. He played fast, though. Everything was full speed. You see that with Lemon. He gets the ball and gets to full speed in a hurry. The pick: Makai Lemon (No. 20). If you’ve followed my predraft preview content and listened to me on the “First Draft” podcast, you know I absolutely love Lemon’s game. I had him as the No. 11 prospect on my board. He’s a true baller who attacks the ball in the air and creates after the catch, finishing eighth in the FBS in receiving yards last season (1,156). Also, what a fit in Philadelphia, which appears to be on the verge of trading A.J. Brown to the Patriots. We knew the Eagles were probably going to target a receiver, but I didn’t think Lemon would still be on the board this late. I gave the Cowboys props for the trade, so I have to mention the flipside here. But given the value of the prospect and the clear need on the not-so-distant horizon, I think it also makes sense for Philadelphia. As the Steelers were getting ready to tell Lemon he would be calling Pittsburgh home, Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles made a trade with the Cowboys to jump in front of the Steelers to steal the star pass-catcher from their grasp. Clearly caught off guard, the Steelers had to pivot and selected Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor, much to the chagrin of the large number of Steelers fans on hand who audibly groaned at Pittsburgh selecting its third first-round tackle in four years. It’s almost poetic that it was the Eagles who jumped the Steelers, considering Pittsburgh so obviously wants to be Philadelphia from a team standpoint. Assistant general manager Andy Weidl came from the Eagles, and the way the Steelers have gone about roster building in the trenches is similar to what Philadelphia has done over the last 5-10 years. Unfortunately, the Steelers lack the killer instinct that Roseman and the Eagles have. 2) Eagles Select WR Makai Lemon. Implied Cost: 1,036 points (The 48th pick in the draft). Implied Salary Lost: $2.48M/Year. A pretty big premium paid by the Eagles who give up far more for a lower pick than the Cowboys gave up in their earlier trade. An implied cost of the 48th pick in the draft is a pretty big number, but this is one of those areas where the positional value does lessen the blow for the Eagles here. While comes up way behind in their trade because they choose a safety, the Eagles are pretty close in value. They don’t need Downs to be a superstar, they just need him to be a high level two or low level one to justify the trade. If he is anything more it is excess value for the Eagles. That makes the number here easier to take, you just wonder if they got too locked in on this one player. This is a terrific trade for the Cowboys who increase their probability of finding at least one starter and if things go right could easily land two starters with their picks they acquire here. In Lemon, they see a tough, complete, and highly productive player who at USC earned first-team All-American honors last season. Lemon’s 2025 campaign was remarkable for the Trojans – he won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top wide receiver, catching 79 passes for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns in 12 games. He was a unanimous first-team Associated Press All-American selection and a first-team All-Big Ten Conference pick. “When you watch Makai,” Sirianni said as he walked from the post-Round 1 press conference to the Draft Room at the Jefferson Health Training Complex, “you see someone who has the ability to create separation on the outside. Now, you create separation everywhere, but there are more contested catches on the outside sometimes, it feels like. He has insane ability to make contested catches. He’s strong for his size – his body is strong, his hands are strong.” Given the relationship between Vrabel and Russini, it’s not crazy or reckless to wonder whether her reporting was directly or indirectly connected to the effort to help the Titans get Jones on the best possible terms. Which, of course, will bolster suspicions by Eagles fans that she had been working more recently with Vrabel to get Eagles receiver A.J. Brown on the best possible terms. The point for now is that the newest photos directly relate to her time at ESPN. And that specific entanglement could explain why it took so long for ESPN to pay full attention to the story. In the end, its own credibility could be undermined by the reporting Russini did while working there. The decided they had seen enough of watching highlight reels of other teams steamrolling their defense. In a move that signaled they were legitimately serious about the secondary, they traded up one spot in the first round to snag Ohio State’s Caleb Downs with the 11th overall pick. It was the kind of assertiveness that is required to go get your guy, and that’s exactly what the Cowboys did. The team didn’t just get a new safety. They got the smartest defensive player in the entire draft, and that is music to our ears considering this squad looked dumbfounded far too often last season. Downs’ college résumé reads like a script that builds more and more excitement with every word. He walked onto the field at Alabama as a true freshman and immediately played like a seasoned pro, leading the entire team in tackles. When Nick Saban decided to trade the headset for golf clubs and retire, Downs took his talents to Ohio State. He didn’t miss a beat with the Buckeyes, remaining absolutely remarkable and helping lead them to a national championship. If winning follows him like a shadow, Cowboys fans have plenty of reasons to start getting excited about the upcoming season. With the 7th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Adam Peters select Ohio State inside linebacker Sonny Styles. So what exactly is Washington getting with the uber-athletic Buckeye? Tyler’s Take: If there was a single player in this draft that checks almost EVERY box that Peter’s looks for in a top draft pick, it’s Sonny Styles. Well, this certainly didn’t go the way the New York Giants planned it. As all NFL teams do in preparation for the NFL Draft, the Giants ran simulation after simulation after simulation, gaming out scenarios for how they thought the first round would play out with New York having the fifth and 10th overall picks. Not many of them included getting Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese at No. 5 and offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa at No. 10. Mostly that is because the Giants didn’t think Reese, the No. 2 player on their board after quarterback Fernando Mendoza, would be available to them. ”We hoped, but there weren’t a lot of scenarios that we went through where he may be available,” Schoen said. “Joe probably ran a zillion mocks,” said head coach John Harbaugh. “This one didn’t come up. This was not one that was really anticipated … this is exciting. This is not expected.” Reese was available As ebecause of some developments that weren’t considered likely. The took David Bailey at No. 2 instead of Reese. The at No. 4 pulled a stunner by selecting wide receiver Carnell Tate instead of a defensive player like Reese or Sonny Styles. … **Social Media Information:** BGN Facebook Page: BGN Twitter: BGN BlueSky: BGN Instagram: BGN Manager: Follow Brandon Lee Gowton on **** | **** | **** BGN Radio Twitter: