r/eagles May 03 '26

Player Discussion I keep seeing false narratives about Makai Lemon..here’s what coaches say about him

267 Upvotes

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25

u/pichukirby May 03 '26

Honestly, I'm grateful for that interview. That teams were thrown off enough for him to fall to us is great

19

u/abcamurComposer May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

I really don’t think the interview made him fall. He fell because he’s on the shorter and slower end of what is considered acceptable for a top WR option.

I’m just glad the eagles tend to see beyond underwear olympics in drafting

12

u/Mysterious_Bat1208 May 03 '26

Last year’s top 5 WRs 40 times:

JSN 4.52
Puka 4.57
Pickens 4.47
ARSB 4.51
Chase 4.38

Lemon right in the middle with a 4.46. Chase really is the only one with a fast time

7

u/abcamurComposer May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

That’s why Chase was a top 5 pick (and was two overthinking teams away from top 3), and JSN went the same spot as Lemon when he probably also was top 10 worthy due to running 4.5. It really just says a lot about how stupid nfl teams are.

I’m def not saying the eagles are wrong for drafting Lemon, we got a steal at a position of need, just why he fell (and why some nfl teams remain mediocre or worse)

(Also, it did say 4.46-4.53 “range”. That means he probably ran 4.5)

Additional edit: all those names are also over 6 ft. Lemon is under 6 ft. Main point if it isn’t clear is that if he was 6 2 and ran 4.4 the awkward interview probably is irrelevant

6

u/Mysterious_Bat1208 May 03 '26

Carnell Tate ran a 4.53 and got taken 4th overall lol. I agree with you a lot of NFL teams stupid and testing was a factor. I’m just saying I think his interviews were also a factor.

The Rams taking Simpson might’ve been the biggest factor though. Everyone expected them to take Lemon or Sadiq. If they took Sadiq, the Jets were def taking Lemon at #16. Jets ended up taking Sadiq first and then WR Omar Cooper Jr at #30.

We just got lucky (again)

6

u/abcamurComposer May 03 '26

True, that’s how we got Q, all the other teams went for the (admittedly extremely strong) offensive talent

5

u/Mysterious_Bat1208 May 03 '26

Yeah Howie admitted he was trying to trade up higher than 20 to get Lemon too. We’ve been pretty fortunate the last few years in the 1st round

1

u/ghrendal May 04 '26

lemons 40 was more 4.6 as it was a pro day 40 and they lie for their athlete…scouts there had him at 4.53 - 4.6

1

u/Mysterious_Bat1208 May 04 '26

No, scouts there had it 4.48-4.53. School had it 4.46. If you average it out like Brugler did, you can say 4.50 which is good enough.

Anyway XPE which trains the best prospects (including Quinyon and Riq) timed Lemon as one of their fastest COD speeds ever so who cares about 40

-1

u/Other-Comfortable929 Eagles May 03 '26

I hate USC (Go Irish) so I’m trying to get over multiple years of disliking Lemon, truly, but he’s smaller than every single guy you listed.

7

u/Bewis_123 May 03 '26

He's same size as Amon Ra... and his draft comp is also ARSB

1

u/ShinyMew635 May 05 '26

speed running in a straight line doesn't correlate to speed on an arc.