![\"Southern](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AP_UCLA_USC_Football_80935-2adfc-0.jpg\")
Southern California wide receiver Makai Lemon runs with the ball during the first half of an NCAA college football game against UCLA, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Los Angeles. AP<\/p>\nA massive piece of USC\u2019s offense won\u2019t be back next season.<\/p>\n
Makai Lemon \u2014 the winner of the Fred Biletnikoff Award for best wide receiver in college football this year \u2014 announced Wednesday he\u2019s forgoing his final year of collegiate eligibility and declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n
Lemon, 21, explained his decision in a lengthy statement on his Instagram account.<\/p>\n
\u201cUSC will forever hold a special place in my heart,\u201d Lemon wrote. \u201cI\u2019m a Los Angeles native, and the opportunity to play this game in the city that raised me was something I envisioned long before it became reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompeting in front of my family, friends, and community made this experience even more meaningful, and I\u2019ll always be proud to have represented this university and this city.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter careful thought and prayer, I\u2019ve decided to take the next step in my journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Southern California wide receiver Makai Lemon runs with the ball during the first half of an NCAA college football game against UCLA, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Los Angeles. AP<\/p>\n
Lemon also thanked God, his family, teammates and coaches in his announcement.<\/p>\n
He arrives on the Trojans\u2019 campus in 2023 as a four-star prospect. Lemon played sparingly in his freshman season, but took on a far more significant role in his sophomore year when he recorded 52 catches, 764 receiving yards and three touchdowns in 12 games.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNeed West Coast news? The California Post is coming soon.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet in early. Sign up for our weekly newsletter before our 2026 launch.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
This year, the junior wideout logged 79 catches for 1,156 yards and 13 total touchdowns in 12 games. <\/p>\n
He ultimately won the Biletnikoff Award over UConn\u2019s Skyler Bell and Ohio State\u2019s Jeremiah Smith.<\/p>\n
Lemon is widely viewed as a potential first-round pick in April\u2019s draft. ESPN\u2019s Mel Kiper Jr. has him at No. 10 overall on his 2026 big board prospects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A massive piece of USC\u2019s offense won\u2019t be back next season. Makai Lemon \u2014 the winner of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1443,331,7,6,15,9,8242],"class_list":{"0":"post-608933","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-college-football","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-nfl-draft","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-usc-trojans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115738192909726377","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}