{"id":871873,"date":"2026-04-22T12:27:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T12:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/871873\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T12:27:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T12:27:20","slug":"micah-huffs-final-seven-round-usc-mock-nfl-draft-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/871873\/","title":{"rendered":"Micah Huff’s final seven-round USC mock NFL draft for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the last NFL draft<\/a>, it was not until the third round that a USC Trojan heard his name called. A total of three players were picked at some point in the 2025 NFL draft. This year will be different. While Makai Lemon’s projection is all over the place, he seems guaranteed to be selected in the first round. As for other potential draftees, there should be at least five Trojans that will be picked, with a ceiling of seven. There should be a great deal of representation for USC, with a handful of teams getting high-quality players to add to their organizations.<\/p>\n

Here is my final NFL mock draft and projection for where all the USC Trojans<\/a> will land:<\/p>\n

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Round 1, pick 16 – New York Jets<\/a> – Makai Lemon<\/p>\n

The New York Jets are desperate for receiver help, and the thought of a receiver duo of Makai Lemon and Garrett Wilson<\/a> intrigues me a ton. I think at pick 16 the Jets are going to take a weapon, and I think Lemon will be that guy that falls to them right at 16. Geno Smith<\/a> had great success with Tyler Lockett<\/a>. I think Smith can replicate that and then some with Makai Lemon. Makai Lemon will also be the perfect weapon for a young quarterback in the future.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs lost a lot in the backend of their secondary, yet with them being a winning organization, it will be a plug-and-play mindset heading into the draft. Kamari Ramsey is a plug-and-play player who can shine on day 1. He is a versatile safety who excels in coverage and has no problem stepping up and making a tackle. I think Steve Spagnuolo’s scheme and Kamari Ramsey’s skill set will be a perfect match.<\/p>\n

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Round 4, pick 103 – New York Jets – Ja’Kobi Lane<\/p>\n

Makai Lemon should not stop the Jets from throwing another dart at the board. Why not reunite the two Trojan receivers, all while completely bolstering this receiver room? The Jets will go from having the bottom receiver room in the NFL to a potential top unit. Garrett Wilson and Makai Lemon will dominate and consistently get open. Lane will dominate on the outside and win with his freakish athleticism. The Jets may not have their quarterback for the future just yet, but Geno Smith could look pretty serviceable with the additions of Lemon and Lane. The Jets would have a trio that each brings something different to the table, making for a well-balanced and dangerous group.<\/p>\n

Round 4, pick 129 – Chicago Bears<\/a> – Bishop Fitzgerald<\/p>\n

The Bears need safety help, but taking Bishop Fitzgerald, a high-quality safety in the 4th round, gives them a great opportunity to bolster the defensive line. Bishop Fitzgerald is an Al Harris-type of safety, and I think there’s a chance he can slot in and be the perfect complement next to Coby Bryant<\/a>. His ballhawking ability and 4.55 speed will provide a younger and better long-term option over Kevin Byard<\/a> for the Bears. I think Fitzgerald is an overlooked potential difference maker on defense. I don’t think Ryan Poles will pass him up.<\/p>\n

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Mike Vrabel has brought his toughness and winning culture over to the Patriots, and last season was as good a season as you can ask for, minus winning the Super Bowl. That winning culture and everything Vrabel is as a coach would be very beneficial for a developmental prospect like Anthony Lucas. I could see the Patriots taking a couple of shots at the edge in the draft, and taking a chance on Anthony Lucas could pay off big.<\/p>\n

John Harbaugh could find his potential Kyle Hamilton<\/a> versatile joker piece in Eric Gentry. Eric Gentry is not the player Kyle Hamilton is, but his unique size and versatility make him a very intriguing prospect. In a defense that has players to be excited about at every level, I think Eric Gentry can be a player who outplays where he was drafted. Gentry is tough, a leader, and experienced. If he does not make an impact on defense right away, he would be one hell of a special-teams player.<\/p>\n

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Round 7, pick 239 – Chicago Bears – Lake McRee<\/p>\n

Ben Johnson loves him some 12 and 13 personal, and the Bears still have an opening for their 3rd tight end role. Lake McRee does not have to be the weapon; Colston Loveland<\/a> is, but he could slot more into playing a role similar to what Cole Kmet<\/a> has provided the Bears recently. McRee can block, he can make tough catches, and he can make big plays when the ball is thrown his way. That is all he will be asked to do, and given his character, I think he would fit in perfectly with this now winning Bears roster.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Seven-round predictions for USC football players in 2026 NFL draft<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the last NFL draft, it was not until the third round that a USC Trojan heard his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[51610,109797,391,2873,3744,590,34746,7,2310,1507,226,34747,110,4861,1506,34748,249,1917,56,255,2321,2097,6,796,2864,117378,8242],"class_list":{"0":"post-871873","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-anthony-lucas","9":"tag-bishop-fitzgerald","10":"tag-chicago-bears","11":"tag-coby-bryant","12":"tag-cole-kmet","13":"tag-colston-loveland","14":"tag-eric-gentry","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-garrett-wilson","17":"tag-geno-smith","18":"tag-jets","19":"tag-kamari-ramsey","20":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","21":"tag-kevin-byard","22":"tag-kyle-hamilton","23":"tag-makai-lemon","24":"tag-new-england-patriots","25":"tag-new-york","26":"tag-new-york-giants","27":"tag-new-york-jets","28":"tag-newyork","29":"tag-newyorkjets","30":"tag-nfl","31":"tag-the-jets","32":"tag-tyler-lockett","33":"tag-usc-trojan","34":"tag-usc-trojans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116448358805678290","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871873","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=871873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}