How does Makai Lemon’s 2025 stack up against other USC WR seasons?

On Thursday, USC wide receiver Makai Lemon was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. The selection was the culmination of a remarkable year for Lemon, who in December became the second Trojan to win the Biletnikoff Award , presented annually to the top receiver in the country. Lemon is the latest in a remarkable run of USC wide receivers.

Since 2011 alone, the Trojans have had ten different players record over 1,000 receiving yards in a season and eight receivers selected in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft. So how does Lemon’s 2025 campaign stack up against some of the top receiver campaigns in USC history? Let’s take a look and see: Johnnie Morton, 1993 USc’s great run of wide receivers really started in the 2000s, but even before that, Johnnie Morton was a dominant force in the 1990s.

As a senior in 1993, he had 78 receptions for 1,373 yards and 12 touchdowns. In addition to earning Consensus All-American honors, he won the Pop Warner Trophy, an award presented to the best college football player on the West Coast. Keyshawn Johnson, 1995 Another dominant USC receiver of the 1990s was Keyshawn Johnson.

He posted consecutive 1,000-yard seasons for the Trojans, including going for 1,434 yards and seven touchdowns in 1995 en route to being named a Unanimous All-American. Johnson capped his career in Cardinal and Gold off with a legendary performance against Northwestern in the 1996 Rose Bowl, for which he earned player of the game honors. Mike Williams, 2003 USC’s historic run of wide receivers in the 21st century began with Williams, who burst onto the scene immediately as a true freshman in 2002.