USC star Makai Lemon is a consensus top three prospect at the wide receiver position in next April’s draft. Lemon currently leads the nation in receiving yards, with 598 through the first five games. He’ll contend with Arizona State‘s Jordyn Tyson and Ohio State’s Carnell Tate to become the first receiver off the boards next April.
Saturday saw Lemon have a monster game, with 11 catches on 15 targets for 151 yards, 2 touchdowns and a 2-pt conversion pass. Of course it came in a loss for USC, who fell 34-32 at Illinois, via walk-off field goal.
Illinois free safety Miles Scott is a big time student of the game. His teammate, edge rusher Gabe Jacas, explained Scott’s affinity for film study, and how he applies that scouting opponents.
“What he sees as a safety, different formations, can turn into different kinds of route concepts,” Jacas said in an interview with R.org. “And that can just change the way of the game. So Miles and I watching film, I learn from him, he learns from me, and I’m grateful that we have that kind of relationship.”
After the big Homecoming win over USC this past weekend, Scott discussed what he learned about Lemon from the film room, and during the real world experience of defending him.
“They put him in a lot of different areas,” said Scott, who aspires to be next in the line of Illini free safeties making their mark in the NFL.
“They lined him up in slot, they lined him up outside, they lined him up in a Y off position. They were able to get him the ball in many different ways- quick passes, deep passes down the field.”
“We just got to do better when we cover that, but I’m glad it happened to us today, because I’m pretty sure we’re going to see other teams like that that have a favorite receiver and we’ll able to adjust off that.”
Lemon was a 5-star recruit for a reason, and ESPN ranked him the 13th best player in the nation, coming out of high school, regardless of position. He’s extremely shifty, and at he plays a lot bigger, faster and stronger than the 5’11”, 195 lb that he’s listed at.
Scott was impressed.
“Any time he was thrown the ball, it didn’t matter if it was contested or if it was uncontested- he was catching it,” the Illini senior team captain and defensive leader continued.
“You got to give him his props, regardless, and run after the catch too, because any time he was catching the ball, he was breaking the first tackle pretty much every time, he’s a good player.”
Scott is absolutely right- Lemon is USC’s favorite receiver. Trojans opponents know this, and they build their defensive game plans around this idea.
Lemon consistently puts up big numbers anyway, and that’s why he has such a bright future at the next level.
This article originally appeared on Draft Wire: Illini FS Miles Scott on how USC utilizes go to guy Makai Lemon
