Makai Lemon delivered a masterful receiving display for USC football Saturday. Yet his 11-catch, 151-yard and two touchdown effort versus Illinois wasn't enough. Still, his head coach Lincoln Riley sounded off on what makes Lemon special.
Riley himself has coached future NFL wide receivers — notably first rounder CeeDee Lamb while at Oklahoma. But he shared via Thomas Goldkamp of On3/Rivals what makes Lemon tick.
“I don’t rank ’em while they play for me, but he’s playing good ball for us right now,” Riley said. “I mean his versatility and consistency really stands out to me in the way that he’s playing.”
That's not the only area where Riley raves about Lemon.
Makai Lemon opens up USC offense, Lincoln Riley explained
USC thrives offensively when Lemon is inserted into the offense, Riley detailed.
“He’s a guy that we feel like can do a lot of different things well on the field and that allows us to use him in different areas and be creative and try to get him in situations where we feel like the advantage is going to be ours,” Riley said.
Lemon is garnering hefty pro praise ahead of the NFL Draft. He even earned WR1 status over the summer from Pro Football Focus.
Riley never sees complacency out of Lemon, though.
“He’s improving. He works hard out here at his craft, football’s important to him,” Riley said. “And he just keeps getting better and better and I think our confidence in him just keeps growing as well.”
The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder has caught 35 passes for 589 yards and scored five touchdowns. Michigan State and Illinois watched him surpass 100 yards in consecutive weeks. Lemon also scored twice in games against Georgia Southern and Saturday's loss to the Fighting Illini.
USC in on a bye week for Saturday before hosting Michigan in a massive Big Ten showdown.
