The 2026 NFL Draft wide receiver class features star power at the top, with USC’s Makai Lemon often serving as the headline name. The Biletnikoff winner brings traits evaluators love: productive, versatile, and high ceiling. Inside league circles and among former players, however, opinions remain split.
Dez Bryant recently weighed in on the debate, and instead of following the consensus, he placed Lemon’s USC teammate, Ja’Kobi Lane, at the top of his evaluation.
Dez Bryant Pounds the Table for USC WR Ja’Kobi Lane as 2026 Draft’s Biggest Steal
Bryant laid out his rankings clearly: “My top 5 wideouts in this year’s 2026 draft: 1. Jordyn Tyson 2. Carnell Tate 3. Ja’Kobi Lane 4. KC Concepcion 5. Makai Lemon”
He doubled down when discussing Lane, captioning the highlight reel of the USC WR: “I promise 8 is the steal of the entire draft.”
Bryant expanded on why he sees a gap between Lane and Lemon, despite public perception leaning the other way.
“I really hate to be that guy, but Lane is more NFL-ready than Lemon. I think Lemon has to find himself in the right situation to excel going into the next level. That’s part of my evaluation. Looking at these guys, you have to have a different type of attitude and skill set to play in the NFL, especially if you’re under 6 feet.
“Steve Smith. Amari [Amon-Ra], St. Brown. Santana Moss, those little guys are different. And I haven’t seen many like them lately. Lemon was a great offensive weapon schematically in college.. we’ll have to see if it translates.” Bryant added that Lemon deserves a chance to prove himself in the big leagues, since he won the Biletnikoff.
The stylistic contrast between the two USC products adds another layer to this split. Lemon is a refined route runner with elite yards-after-catch ability who finished 2025 with 79 receptions for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also posted a top-5 national PFSN College Football Wide Receiver Impact score of 85.1, ranking No. 4 overall.
Lane brings a different profile. At 6’4″, he is a bigger-bodied target with a natural feel for contested catches and red-zone work. Across his USC career, he totaled 99 receptions for 1,363 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Last season, his PFSN CFB WR Impact score of 79.0 placed him at No. 60 overall, reflecting his evaluation variance. But this also aligns with the steal value Bryant discussed.
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Lane’s size, ball tracking, and ability to win in tight spaces give him a highly translatable skill set. That physicality aspect of his game is how he differentiates his repertoire from Lemon’s.
Another way of looking at it is that if teams want a weapon that can hit the mark off rip, then Lemon is likely to be the first to come off the board. If a franchise wants the weapon to demand presence in the red zone and the growth trajectory follows the physical built side of things, Lane provides a unique upside.
