USC WR Ja’Kobi Lane To Declare For NFL Draft
One of the best vertical threats in college football is heading to the NFL. According to ESPN’s Jordan Reid, USC wideout Ja’Kobi Lane is declaring for the 2026 draft.
Lane played sparingly as a freshman before bursting onto the scene in 2024, finishing with 12 touchdowns. He put himself firmly on the NFL map with a standout performance during the Las Vegas Bowl, where he finished with seven catches for 127 yards and three touchdowns. He carried that production into 2025, as the wideout hauled in 49 catches for 745 yards and four touchdowns.
While Lane didn’t have as much luck finding the end zone in 2025, scouts have still lauded the prospect for his scoring ability. At six-foot-four, the receiver is a natural red zone target, but he’s also known for his big-play ability, as he averaged 13.8 yards per reception throughout his Trojans career.
Considering his size and skillset, Lane is currently projected to be a Day 2 pick, with some pundits estimating that he could hear his name in the second round. Even a strong combine and/or Pro Day showing likely won’t be enough to elevate him in the same tier as receivers like Ohio State’s Carnell Tate, Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson, or even teammate Makai Lemon. However, he could easily emerge in that second tier of wide receivers.
That somewhat underwhelming draft projection had many scouts believing Lane would ultimately head back to USC, per Reid. The Trojans are also set to have some definitive subtractions from the WR room (including Lemon), perhaps opening the door for Lane to emerge as a true WR1. Instead, the prospect will look to begin his professional career as soon as possible.
USC WR Makai Lemon Declares For Draft
We have already talked about how stacked this year’s draft class of wide receivers is, and one of the names we mentioned to underline this point was USC’s Makai Lemon. This evening, Lemon took to Instagram to make it official and declare for the 2026 NFL Draft. As a result, he will be forgoing his final year of eligibility. 
A consensus top 50 recruit out of Los Alamitos HS (CA), Lemon surprised many when he committed to Oklahoma just before his junior year. By November, though, the nearby Trojans got in his ear and earned the flip before the fall semester was even over. He remained so committed to USC that, the next summer, they were the only official visit he took before eventually signing his Letter of Intent on early National Signing Day in 2022.
Lemon was buried on the depth chart as a true freshman, only catching six passes while Caleb Williams threw to Tahj Washington and Brenden Rice. The next year, though, Lemon led the Trojans in receptions (52) and receiving yards (764), while big-bodied fellow sophomore Ja’Kobi Lane dominated the redzone targets to the tune of 12 touchdowns.
This year was a different story. Lemon delivered on expectations of a breakout campaign, setting new personal highs with the team lead in receptions (79), receiving yards (1,156), and receiving touchdowns (11). Lemon put it all on the field this year, and he needed to. Lacking elite speed and weighing with a 5-foot-11, 195-pound frame, Lemon is not about to be a combine riser.
What Lemon does have, though, is an almost professional feel for the game and how to get open. He sees the ball to his hands and becomes an immediate YAC-threat. Again, it’s not speed that earns him those yards after catch but some crafty, fierce, intentional running that makes him so dangerous with the ball in his hands. His ability to make acrobatic, highlight-reel catches helped him earn the school’s second ever Biletnikoff Award (given to the NCAA’s best wide receiver).
In Dane Brugler of The Athletic’s midseason rankings, Lemon checked in as the 20th-best overall prospect and WR3 on the board, behind Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson and Ohio State’s Carnell Tate. In his own recent Big Board, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. also slotted Lemon in as WR3 but had him all the way up at No. 10 overall. In a class full of talented pass catchers, Lemon appears, early on, to be a consensus top three receiver with an easy first-round projection. If teams can look past his size and see him as more than just an elite slot receiver, he could hear his name called very early on Day 1.
WRs Starting To Emerge From 2026 Draft Class
In the days following the 2025 NFL Draft, early looks at the 2026 class had many excited about the potential options at quarterback. At this point of the year, though, many of the arms expected to have earned first-round buzz have made teams doubt whether they’re ready to come out of college altogether. According to Nick Baumgardner and Dane Brugler of The Athletic, another position has seen more success in emerging talented depth for next April.
While QBs haven’t fared well as a group thus far in the college football season, pass catchers have impressed. More notably, the position’s underclassmen have elevated what looked to be a lesser senior class of wide receivers. Asked to identify the prototypical X receivers in this year’s class, Baumgardner pointed immediately to the crop’s highest-rated WRs, Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson and Ohio State’s Carnell Tate.
At 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, Tyson has the frame of a pro wideout, and he’s logged monster production for the Sun Devils over the last two years. Last season, he put up an impressive 75 catches for 1,101 yards and 10 touchdowns. A hamstring injury has slightly reduced Tyson’s output this year, but he has still managed a line of 59-689-8 in eight games. There’s little lacking in his game as he excels in getting open and making tough, contested catches.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Tate is a bit longer and leaner than Tyson, but he doesn’t sacrifice any quickness or control with that length. Tate has established himself as a deep threat this season with crisp route-running and an ability to adjust his pace to find the ball or get open. It’s hard to shine in an offense that features sophomore star Jeremiah Smith (not yet draft-eligible), but Tate has found a way by establishing himself as one of the more sure-handed receivers in the country. He seems set to continue the parade of NFL-ready receivers out of Columbus, following in the footsteps of recent Buckeye success stories like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson, Emeka Egbuka, Terry McLaurin, Chris Olave, and Marvin Harrison Jr.
Other receivers generating buzz for later on in the first round include USC’s Makai Lemon, Washington’s Denzel Boston, Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion, and Louisville’s Chris Bell. At 5-11, 195 pounds, Lemon doesn’t possess great size, but he’s fast and can excel in roles outside of the slot when given the opportunity. Boston is the complete opposite, with a sizeable 6-foot-4 frame and the abilities to play both on the outside or as a big slot. Concepcion is a danger to score any time he gets his hands on the ball, and the Aggies have made sure to feed him as much as NC State did before he transferred.
Bell is the first senior mentioned and the only one sneaking into late-first projections. Fellow senior Germie Bernard, who plays for Alabama, is seemingly on the fringe at this point in the process. Bell shows impressive traits while still needing to polish several aspects of his game, but he possesses some uncoachable strength and explosive speed that should really benefit him at the next level. Bernard doesn’t impress much as an athlete, lacking ideal size/speed/strength attributes, but he does a lot of things right with a good all-around game.
The underclassmen are truly the gems of the group, according to Brugler, who placed Tyson, Tate, and Lemon among his top 20 prospects entering the season. All of those players have matched or exceeded the hype since then, Brugler notes. At this point, there’s little question about if they’ll get drafted high or whether they can play at the next level. The more important question will be whether or not they’re ready to declare this year.