When the Philadelphia Eagles traded disgruntled wide receiver A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots and drafted Makai Lemon in the first round, the thought process seemed to be sound; Lemon would be a relatively direct replacement for Brown, filling in as the No. 2 receiver behind DeVonta Smith but ahead of Dontayvion Wicks.
However, Lemon has gotten his NFL career off to a slow start, and despite their 2-1 record, the Eagles’ offense doesn’t look nearly as dangerous as the version that put up 40 or more points in back-to-back weeks to win the Super Bowl just two seasons ago.
On Thursday, another wrinkle emerged in Philadelphia’s plans, as Smith missed practice with a hamstring injury for the second consecutive day.
He could still play in Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, given that he also missed practices last week, but if he doesn’t, Lemon’s role could increase significantly.
Results and Usage
Lemon could hardly have gotten his NFL career off to a more embarrassing start, as he finished his debut with three catches for negative-five yards, the fewest of any first-round receiver in league history. He then caught his only target for just 14 yards in Week 2 and had his best game yet in Week 3, playing a career-high 70% of the Eagles’ offensive snaps and hauling in three of his four targets for 29 yards. Lemon ranks third on the team in targets behind Smith and Wicks, but it’s clearly Smith’s offense. The 2020 Heisman Trophy winner has been the recipient of nearly one-third of Jalen Hurts’ throws, ranking second in target share among players who have appeared in multiple games.
So far, Lemon’s advanced numbers haven’t been impressive, as he ranks just 79th among 107 qualified receivers by Pro Football Focus’ offensive grades, but I don’t want to overreact to three games. Lemon was a highly-touted prospect in college, amassing 1,156 yards and 11 touches on 79 catches as a senior at USC, and there are plenty of productive receivers who got off to slow starts in their rookie campaigns. The Los Angeles Chargers’ Ladd McConkey, for instance, had 44 or fewer receiving yards in each of his first three games before finishing his rookie campaign with 1,149. It’s not unlikely that Lemon will have experience his breakout before the end of 2026.
Future Outlook
If Smith plays, Hurts trusts him too much to make Lemon fantasy-viable, but if he sits, that’s a lot of production that needs to be replaced. This season, Smith has accounted for 37.9% of Hurts’ total passing output, and he’s posted the second-highest PFF grades among wideouts, behind only reigning Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Beyond him, Philadelphia is pretty thin at wideout; Darius Cooper, who has 11 career catches for 118 yards, is the only other player at the position who’s received a target this season. Elijah Moore and Hollywood Brown are more experienced, but Brown is five seasons removed from his lone 1,000-yard campaign and also sat out Thursday’s practice. None of those four (or Britain Covey) can adequately replace Smith, so Lemon might be the default option after Wicks.
However, that increased share would be cut out a pie that is small to begin with and might shrink. Sean Mannion’s offense ranks just 20th in passing attempts per game, and it hasn’t been very efficient, ranking just 24th in passing yards. Hurts has struggled, posting his lowest PFF grade since his rookie campaign, as well as his highest bad throw rate and lowest on-target rate since then. Additionally, while the Eagles still ranks seventh by pass blocking grades, that represents their lowest ranking in that category since 2020. If Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert miss the game, Philadelphia would likely lean more heavily on its most reliable offensive asset, Saquon Barkley.
Plus, Lemon could hardly ask for a harder matchup against the remade Rams secondary. Los Angeles hasn’t even played particularly well this season, going just 1-2, but it’s allowed the sixth-fewest receiving yards to opposing wide receivers while forcing the third-lowest completion percentage, the fifth-fewest adjusted net yards per attempt, and the fourth-lowest passer rating. The Rams could be slightly less dangerous this week with Jaylen Watson (shoulder) out, but Trent McDuffie has been the league’s best cornerback this season, and either he or safety Quentin Lake (second of 89 safeties) has been Los Angeles’ primary slot corner. Lemon shouldn’t be expected to break out against such a dangerous defense, even if Smith sits.
