Makai Lemon steals the highest recognition for a receiver in college football in the Biletnikoff award over Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith. Last season, the consensus was that Smith, as a freshman, was already labeled as the best player in college football. This year, things changed, and the USC Trojans had a receiver who played at a higher level than Smith in Lemon.
There was reason to believe that even though Jeremiah Smith did not have the season he had last year he would still just win the Biletnikoff award this year. As a freshman, Smith put up 76 catches, 1315 yards, and 15 touchdowns in 16 games. Smith this year posted 80 catches, 1086 yards receiving, and 11 touchdowns. His numbers went down but his popularity and the standard never changed.
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If you separate the names and the popularity, if you look at the product both players put on the field, the answer would be Makai Lemon is the better player and the best receiver in the country. It felt like just about every game, Makai Lemon was the best player on the football field. Lemon had his breakout season this year in his junior year, posting 79 catches, 1156 yards receiving, and 11 touchdowns. Makai Lemon deserved this award for the season he had, and he should even be the first receiver that comes off the board in next season’s draft.
When you think of top receivers in the country and the college they play at, the two programs you immediately think of are LSU and Ohio State. With a win like this for USC and a player like Lemon heading into the NFL, USC could very well enter the conversation for wide receiver university.
USC already has receivers like Amon-Ra St. Brown, a top-5 receiver in the NFL, and Drake London, who is arguably a top-10 receiver dominating on Sundays. Michael Pittman Jr. is also another receiver who has had multiple 1000-yard receiving seasons in his career, along with ascending young receiver Jordan Addison in Minnesota. The Trojans’ success in the NFL at receiver goes deeper with the likes of Hall of Famer Keyshawn Johnson, Mike Williams, Marqise Lee, and Robert Woods. He dominated Sundays as well, not too long ago.
Makai Lemon joins Marqise Lee as the only other USC Trojan to win the Biletnikoff award. Lemon has his sights set on much more when he gets into the NFL. With the comparisons to Trojan legend Amon-Ra St. Brown, Lemon will look to take his game to a whole other level for whichever team drafts him and further prove why the USC Trojans should be in the conversation for being the wide receiver university.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football should be in ‘wide receiver university’ conversation
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