A to Z Sports\u2019 latest mock draft<\/a>. <\/p>\nHowever, does the pairing make a lot of sense? Should the Rams draft Makai Lemon in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m kickstarting a series of \u201cMaking the Case\u201d articles for all of the top prospects connected to the Rams, starting with Lemon. <\/p>\n
The case for Makai Lemon with the Los Angeles Rams<\/p>\n
The Rams do need at least one, but preferably two wide receivers in the 2026 NFL Draft. In an ideal world, they find an outside playmaker to replace Davante Adams, and a slot receiver who threatens more as a receiver than Jordan Whittington. General manager Les Snead himself attended USC\u2019s Pro Day last month, furthering the noise. <\/p>\n
Lemon can fill one of those roles as a slot receiver. You\u2019ll see numerous comps to Amon-Ra St. Brown for a reason, given Lemon\u2019s smooth ability as a route-runner. He beats zone coverage very well, and he\u2019s a strong, strong catcher. Lemon works open across the middle of the field well, and has all the makings of a high-floor and high-volume pass catcher.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s nothing in his profile that suggests he is a bad or uncapable player. He can be a team\u2019s No. 1 option, albeit situationally, or most likely a strong No. 2 complement. The fit with the Rams, however, feels\u2026iffy.<\/p>\n
The case against Makai Lemon with the Los Angeles Rams<\/p>\n
My issue is moreso Lemon\u2019s fit with the Rams. If the Rams are going to take a wide receiver early, they should be the long-term Adams replacement who can win on the outside. Off of sheer positional value alone, an outside wide receiver is infinitely more valuable than a slot receiver. <\/p>\n
Many believe Lemon is capable of playing on the outside, and I don\u2019t entirely disagree. However, in my opinion, the best way to utilize him is in a similar way to what the Rams already do with Puka. Lemon can be moved around the formation to free him up from true press coverage as the Z\/flanker and into the slot. The problem is\u2026the Rams already have a guy who can do that at an extremely high level in Puka Nacua. They don\u2019t need another one. <\/p>\n
What the Rams do need is a high-level separator on the outside opposite of Nacua. There\u2019s a reason why Davante Adams was such a coveted addition by Sean McVay. Adams saw press coverage more than 50% of the time last season, and had strong production beating it all season long. Adams is an on-ball perimeter wide receiver for the vast majority of snaps.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t see a player in that same vein in Lemon. I see a good player, no doubt about it, but small and not fast is not an ideal combination for a perimeter \u201cX\u201d wide receiver. Lemon doesn\u2019t necessarily beat man (particularly press-man) coverage at a high level compared to other similar wide receivers, like Jaxon Smith-Njigba. <\/p>\n
I did mention the Rams needed a slot receiver, and Lemon can do that. However, if the Rams plan on sticking with heavy personnel, or deploying it even more next season, the importance of that role drastically decreases. Do you want to spend a first-round pick on a player who might play 55% of snaps?<\/p>\n
Verdict<\/p>\n
Makai Lemon is a good player. I don\u2019t think he would be unproductive with the Rams. However, I don\u2019t believe this is the best use of their resources. To me, it\u2019s too much overlap with the players they already have on the roster. Unless they plan on moving on from Nacua (which seems doubtful but possible), Lemon\u2019s ideal fit is already occupied by a highly-proven player. <\/p>\n
For me, I would be out on Lemon with the Los Angeles Rams. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Simulator-6.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t![\"Nov](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/USATSI_27671589-scaled.jpg\")
\t\t<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Rams News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Rams have frequently been connected to an intriguing West Coast playmaker in USC wide receiver…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":856843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[7,4099,1014,58,115957,2619,2444,2611,6,424,49005],"class_list":{"0":"post-856842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-rams","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-la-rams","10":"tag-los-angeles","11":"tag-los-angeles-rams","12":"tag-los-angeles-rams-football","13":"tag-los-angeles-rams-draft","14":"tag-losangeles","15":"tag-losangelesrams","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-rams","18":"tag-rams-wide-receivers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116357835006977538","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856842","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=856842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Nov](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/USATSI_27707836-scaled.jpg\")