2026
2026 season · WR · #9 · 1st season
Makai Lemon
Age 22 · 5'11" · 192 lb · USC · Pick 20 overall (2026). Listed WR3 on the 3WR 1TE depth chart. Snap share 77% across 8 games.
- How goodLemon's +3.3 EPA is T-71st of 99 wide receivers.
- Where it comes fromThe biggest share comes after the catch (+14.2, 55th percentile per target).
- Fantasy3.8 standard points a game, WR77 of 171.5.8 half-PPR points a game, WR70 of 171.7.7 PPR points a game, WR67 of 171.
- How he's usedMakai rarely goes deep: 4% of his targets travel 20 yards or more, against 18% for the league's receivers.
- LatelyTargets are steady: 7.7 a game over his last three against 5.6 for the season.
- This weekA tough matchup: the Giants rank 7th vs WR, allowing +0.08 EPA per target to wide receivers.
How good is hehis line against the league at his position
| Stat | Value | Rank | League | Pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target shareof team targets | 18% | 48th of 99 | 52nd | |
| Depth of targetair yards per target | 5.9 | 92nd of 99 | 8th | |
| After the catchyards per reception | 3.1 | 71st of 99 | 29th | |
| Catch ratereceptions per target | 69% | 30th of 99 | 70th | |
| EPA per target | +0.07 | 76th of 99 | 24th |
| Stat | Value | Rank | League | Pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First downsper target | 31% | 80th of 99 | 20th | |
| Drop ratedrops per target, lower is better | 4% | 56th of 99 | 43rd | |
| Yards per game | 31.4 | 72nd of 99 | 28th | |
| Success rate | 42% | 79th of 99 | 21st | |
| Total EPA | +3.3 | T-71st of 99 | 28th |
How this is measured
Each bar is the league at his position; the marker is him. Right is better, the dashed line is the median. Ranks are out of the qualifying pool, ties shown as T-, and move every week as the pool changes.
Lemon scores 3.8 standard points a game, WR77 of 171 WRs with enough games. Most weeks land between 1.3 and 5.1; 1 boom week (12+) and 6 busts (under 5). Next up, in Week 9, the Giants allow the 15th-most standard points to WRs, 20.9 a game.
Lemon scores 5.8 half-PPR points a game, WR70 of 171 WRs with enough games. Most weeks land between 2.2 and 7.9; 1 boom week (16+) and 5 busts (under 6.5). Next up, in Week 9, the Giants allow the 15th-most half-PPR points to WRs, 26.2 a game.
Lemon scores 7.7 PPR points a game, WR67 of 171 WRs with enough games. Most weeks land between 3.5 and 10.7; 0 boom weeks (20+) and 5 busts (under 8). Next up, in Week 9, the Giants allow the 15th-most PPR points to WRs, 31.6 a game.
How this is measured
Fantasy points are nflverse's standard and full-PPR scoring (6 points for a rushing or receiving touchdown, 4 for a passing touchdown, minus 2 for an interception or a lost fumble); half PPR is the average of the two. Ranks are points a game among players at his position with at least half the most games played. Most weeks is his 20th to 80th percentile game. Bars are green on a boom week and red on a bust; the dashed line is the starter line, the points a game of the WR24 in a 12-team league. The format you pick is remembered on this device.
How he's usedhis fingerprint, where the ball finds him and when
Makai rarely goes deep: 4% of his targets travel 20 yards or more, against 18% for the league's receivers. Motion is part of the plan: 58% of his targets come with pre-snap movement (league 49%). His share of the team's targets is 18%: on third down it falls to 13%; inside the 20 it falls to 11%.
How this is measured
Every trait is a share of his own targets, so volume does not move it. The marker is him among the league's qualifying wide receivers; the dashed line is the median. Styles are not grades: a high or low percentile is a description, not a verdict. Play action, screen, RPO, motion and blitz flags come from FTN charting and read low in a week it has not published.
Lemon's +3.3 EPA is T-71st of 99 wide receivers. The biggest share comes after the catch (+14.2, 55th percentile per target). Air yards add less than most (+3.1, 15th percentile).
How this is measured
Every target this season, split by what happened. Catches divide at the catch: the yards in the air and what came after. The percentile is him among the qualifying wide receivers, higher is better, so a cost smaller than most ranks high. The parts add up to the totals above; the career strip counts seasons with at least 15 targets.
He is targeted short left 1.7× as often as the league (31% of his targets against 18%) and gains +0.12 EPA a target there.
How this is measured
Every target with a charted depth and direction this season; sacks and throws with no charted direction are left out. Left and right are as the offense sees the field. Cells with fewer than three targets show no EPA.
On the field
By depth of target
Who he works withthe connection, and the rest of the huddle
By depth
Week by weekthe shape of his season, the game log and the defenses behind it
The game
vs GiantsLincoln Financial Field
NYG −3.5 · O/U 40.5
His history
First meeting this season
His status
A tough matchup: the Giants rank 7th vs WR, allowing +0.08 EPA per target to wide receivers. He has averaged 23 yards a game against top-10 defenses this season.
| Wk | Opponent | Defense | Snap | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | vs WAS W 24-2213th D | 13th vs WR | 64% | 4 | 3 | -5 | -3.9 | |
| 2 | at TEN W 24-2031st D | 31st vs WR | 63% | 1 | 1 | 14 | +2.5 | |
| 3 | at CHI L 7-2711th D | 11th vs WR | 70% | 4 | 3 | 29 | -1.6 | |
| 4 | vs LA L 20-246th D | 6th vs WR | 74% | 6 | 3 | 27 | +1.6 | |
| 5 | at JAX L 17-1920th D | 20th vs WR | 81% | 7 | 5 | 43 | +0.1 | |
| 6 | vs CAR L 14-2510th D | 10th vs WR | 81% | 6 | 3 | 19 | -2.9 | |
| 7 | vs DAL L 21-3827th D | 27th vs WR | 91% | 8 | 7 | 67 | 1 | +6.6 |
| 8 | at WAS L 10-2713th D | 13th vs WR | 94% | 9 | 6 | 57 | +1.0 | |
| 9 | vs NYGSun Nov 8 · next up | |||||||
| 10 | Bye week | |||||||
| 11 | vs PITSun Nov 22 | |||||||
| 12 | at DALThu Nov 26 | |||||||
| 13 | at ARISun Dec 6 | |||||||
| 14 | vs INDSun Dec 13 | |||||||
| 15 | vs SEASat Dec 19 | |||||||
| 16 | vs HOUThu Dec 24 | |||||||
| 17 | at SFSun Jan 3 | |||||||
| 18 | at NYGSun Jan 10 | |||||||
| 8 games | 77% | 45 | 31 | 251 | 1 | +3.3 |
| Wk | Opponent | Defense | Tgt share | Air share | aDOT | YAC | EPA/tgt | 1D | Drops |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | vs WAS W 24-2213th D | 13th vs WR | 18% | 0% | 0.0 | 3 | -0.97 | 0 | |
| 2 | at TEN W 24-2031st D | 31st vs WR | 3% | 4% | 13.0 | 1 | +2.49 | 1 | |
| 3 | at CHI L 7-2711th D | 11th vs WR | 16% | 30% | 11.5 | 17 | -0.40 | 2 | |
| 4 | vs LA L 20-246th D | 6th vs WR | 24% | 14% | 5.2 | 2 | +0.26 | 2 | |
| 5 | at JAX L 17-1920th D | 20th vs WR | 19% | 8% | 3.3 | 22 | +0.01 | 2 | |
| 6 | vs CAR L 14-2510th D | 10th vs WR | 14% | 9% | 5.3 | 4 | -0.49 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | vs DAL L 21-3827th D | 27th vs WR | 24% | 22% | 4.9 | 37 | +0.83 | 4 | |
| 8 | at WAS L 10-2713th D | 13th vs WR | 28% | 37% | 8.9 | 10 | +0.11 | 2 | |
| 9 | vs NYGSun Nov 8 · next up | ||||||||
| 10 | Bye week | ||||||||
| 11 | vs PITSun Nov 22 | ||||||||
| 12 | at DALThu Nov 26 | ||||||||
| 13 | at ARISun Dec 6 | ||||||||
| 14 | vs INDSun Dec 13 | ||||||||
| 15 | vs SEASat Dec 19 | ||||||||
| 16 | vs HOUThu Dec 24 | ||||||||
| 17 | at SFSun Jan 3 | ||||||||
| 18 | at NYGSun Jan 10 | ||||||||
| 8 games | 18% | 16% | 5.9 | 96 | +0.07 | 14 | 2 |
| Wk | Opponent | Defense | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | 20+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | vs WAS W 24-2213th D | 13th vs WR | 3 | -5 | -1.7 | ||
| 2 | at TEN W 24-2031st D | 31st vs WR | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | ||
| 3 | at CHI L 7-2711th D | 11th vs WR | 3 | 29 | 9.7 | ||
| 4 | vs LA L 20-246th D | 6th vs WR | 3 | 27 | 9.0 | ||
| 5 | at JAX L 17-1920th D | 20th vs WR | 5 | 43 | 8.6 | ||
| 6 | vs CAR L 14-2510th D | 10th vs WR | 3 | 19 | 6.3 | ||
| 7 | vs DAL L 21-3827th D | 27th vs WR | 7 | 67 | 9.6 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | at WAS L 10-2713th D | 13th vs WR | 6 | 57 | 9.5 | 1 | |
| 9 | vs NYGSun Nov 8 · next up | ||||||
| 10 | Bye week | ||||||
| 11 | vs PITSun Nov 22 | ||||||
| 12 | at DALThu Nov 26 | ||||||
| 13 | at ARISun Dec 6 | ||||||
| 14 | vs INDSun Dec 13 | ||||||
| 15 | vs SEASat Dec 19 | ||||||
| 16 | vs HOUThu Dec 24 | ||||||
| 17 | at SFSun Jan 3 | ||||||
| 18 | at NYGSun Jan 10 | ||||||
| 8 games | 31 | 251 | 8.1 | 1 | 2 |
Targets are steady: 7.7 a game over his last three against 5.6 for the season. 5 straight games above a starter's median in targets.
How this is measured
Bars are his week. The shaded band is the league's middle half at his position, every qualifying player-game this season, and the dashed line is its median. The solid line is his trailing three games. An × on the baseline is a game his team played without him; a dotted tick is the bye.
He has faced the 16th-toughest slate vs WR: his opponents rank 16.4 of 32 on average (league middle 16.4). Ahead: 4 of his next 9 are top-10 vs WR and 3 are bottom-10, starting with the Giants (7th) in Week 9.
The slate · played solid, ahead dashed
His line by defense faced
| Defenses | G | Tgt/g | Yds/g | EPA/tgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ranked 1 to 10Top-10 defenses | 2 | 6.0 | 23 | -0.11 |
| 11 to 22Middle | 4 | 6.0 | 31 | -0.18 |
| 23 to 32Bottom-10 | 2 | 4.5 | 41 | +1.01 |
| All games | 8 | 5.6 | 31 | +0.07 |
Yards against the rank of the defense
His production barely moves with the opponent (r = 0.24); it has traveled.
Careerseason by season, back to his rookie year
First season: 8 games in, 251 receiving yards, a 17-game pace of 533.
| Season | Team | G | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Y/R | Yds/g | EPA/tgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | PHI | 8 | 45 | 31 | 251 | 1 | 8.1 | 31.4 | +0.07 |
| Career | 1 tm | 8 | 45 | 31 | 251 | 1 | 8.1 | 31.4 | +0.07 |
How this is measured
Regular season only, from nflverse weekly stats back to 1999. This season is partial and drawn hollow; the pace is his per-game rate over 17 games. Bold cells are career highs.
Intel & playsthe report, his best snaps, his teammates
- Depth chart
- WR3 · 3WR 1TE
- Injury report
- clean
- Red zone touches
- …
- Third down
- …
- Explosive plays
- …
- Drops
- 2 on 45 targets
- Broken tackles
- 0
- Passer rating when targeted
- 91.2
- Play action
- …
- Contested
- …
| Player | Touches | Yds | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|
 Saquon BarkleyRB | 66 | 315 · 2 TD | -0.1 |
 Dameon PierceRB | 48 | 110 · 2 TD | -13.5 |
 DeVonta SmithWR | 41 | 310 · 2 TD | +0.8 |
 Dallas GoedertTE | 36 | 260 · 2 TD | +9.7 |
 Dontayvion WicksWR | 32 | 284 · 1 TD | +16.1 |
 Tank BigsbyRB | 32 | 101 · 1 TD | -10.4 |
 Will ShipleyRB | 28 | 88 · 1 TD | -8.9 |
 Darius CooperWR | 24 | 175 · 4 TD | +5.0 |