Exiting the NFL Combine, we are digging into the 2026 fantasy rookie class for Dynasty rookie drafts, startups, and seasonal formats.
Even before the NFL Draft in April, rookies are available in Best Ball formats across all platforms.
That information gets applied to athletic models and layered alongside production profiles to shape each prospect's complete portfolio.
Let's look at the pre-draft profile for USC WR Makai Lemon, including his strengths, weaknesses, and fantasy outlook for both redraft and Dynasty formats.
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Makai Lemon Pre-Draft Fantasy Profile
Rookie Age*: 22.2
*Age on 9/1/26
Following a 2024 breakout at age 20, where he posted 3.03 yards per route run playing alongside Ja’Kobi Lane and Zachariah Branch, Lemon snagged 79 receptions for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns this past season.
In 2025, Lemon was targeted on 29.3% of his routes (7th in this class) with 3.13 yards per route run (2nd).
He is one of only two wideouts in this class to average over 3.0 yards per route run against both man coverage (3.29) and zone coverage (3.09).
He produced a first down or touchdown on 13.6% of his routes (3rd) while posting 2.75 yards per team pass attempt (2nd).
Lemon is a plug-and-play producer who can win on all three levels.
He was excellent after the catch, forcing a missed tackle on 26.6% of his receptions (8th).
Lemon averaged 6.4 yards after catch per reception, which was the third-highest among receivers in this class with an average depth of target over 10.0 yards downfield.
USC did get him the ball in the screen game (21.3% of his targets), but Lemon also pulled in 64% of his targets on throws 20-plus yards downfield (16 of 25), which was fourth in this class.
He led this draft class in receptions on throws of 20 or more yards downfield.
Lemon dabbled a little bit early on as a cornerback, which shows up in his understanding of spacing in zone coverage and in his release package at the line of scrimmage.
If there are any nits to pick with Lemon on the field, it is that he has not logged a significant amount of time playing outside in college and is not built like a prototypical lead wideout in the traditional sense.
Lemon ran 70.7% of his routes from the slot last season (8th in this class), where he caught 52 passes for 791 yards and 7 touchdowns.
At 5-foot-11 and 192 pounds, Lemon has 30.5-inch arms (12th percentile) and 8.75-inch hands (6th percentile).
That was not an issue for him when he was forced to win the contested catch game, however.
He attacks the football and has won in his sample of contested targets.
His 2.2% career drop rate is the second-best in this class.
Lemon won 10 of his 15 contested catch opportunities (tied for 4th in this class).
He also converted 58.3% of his targets in the red zone (7 of 12) for scores, which was second in the class.
While Lemon is not built in the mold of Calvin Johnson, I would argue he is entering the NFL at a time when his archetype is more relevant than ever.
The current landscape for wideouts winning as a high-end target earning WR1 in today’s NFL is about versatility: being able to win at the full route tree, play inside and out, finding space against all of the disguised coverages shaping the defensive meta, and creating after the catch.
We are no longer in an NFL where the alpha X receiver is dominating targets and stacking the most fantasy points.
That was the case again in 2025.
The top-12 scorers at the position in points per game last season were Puka Nacua, Jaxon Smith–Njigba, Ja’Marr Chase, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Rashee Rice, George Pickens, Drake London, Chris Olave, Davante Adams, Nico Collins, A.J. Brown, and CeeDee Lamb.
Pickens, Adams, Collins, and Brown are the only players among that group who are traditional X options.
The rest of those guys all move around and win in space.
The past seven receivers to lead the position in fantasy points per game have been Nacua, Chase, Lamb, Cooper Kupp (twice), Adams, and Michael Thomas.
That followed a dominant stretch from Antonio Brown.
We would love to have it all (Jeremiah Smith is on his way, gamers), but you no longer have to be Megatron or Julio Jones to be elite in our game.
Lemon may take a step of faith in projection winning outside because he was so dominant from the slot, but when tasked to do so, he posted 3.37 yards per route run as an outside receiver as well.
Lemon’s most popular comparables are St. Brown and Nacua.
Those two players were selected on Day 3 of the NFL Draft and were the best value picks of their positions in recent memory.
Lemon is going to be a front-end pick.
Coming off a massive season by Smith-Njigba is relevant here because JSN is the closest recent comparable to Lemon when factoring in draft capital.
Smith-Njigba had nearly identical measurables at the NFL Combine (6-foot-1 and 196 pounds, with 30.5-inch arms and 9-inch hands).
Like Lemon, Smith-Njigba was deployed as a primary slot receiver in college.
That did roadblock him, to a degree, for fantasy purposes in opening his career.
Smith-Njigba was drafted to a team with established target earners in DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
Playing 67.6% and 77.4% of his snaps from the slot limited him in his first two seasons in the league when all three receivers were available.
But when given the runway to play as the feature WR1 in the offense, finally, Smith-Njigba flourished this past season.
Lemon may not have the same gaudy runout as Smith-Njigba, but he has the baseline for the type of receiver who has excelled for fantasy purposes.
Smith-Njigba’s recent success (and the undervalued nature of St. Brown and Nacua) will surely push Lemon’s draft stock in a weaker class.
That tale about Smith-Njigba is one to keep in mind if Lemon is drafted early, attached to an established target earner, and used primarily as a slot out of the package.
I doubt we are going to see Lemon completely flip to an exterior role to the same degree in year one, but Emeka Egbuka also had a higher slot rate in college than Lemon did as a first-round pick, and then just played 70% of his snaps out wide as a rookie, catching 63 passes for 938 yards and 6 touchdowns.
