The Philadelphia Eagles officially started camp on July 29, and there are a bunch of new faces in the building. With A.J. Brown gone, the Eagles added both Makai Lemon in the draft and traded for Dontayvion Wicks.
When the Eagles selected Lemon, the expectation was that he would be an immediate contributor, but that has slowed down. He has dealt with a hamstring injury that has sidelined him for four practices thus far in camp, and it appears there are some questions about his impact from day 1.
Jimmy Kempski of Philly Voice expressed that he doesn't believe Lemon will be a starter at the beginning of the campaign.
"Well, Lemon missed half the spring and so far half of training camp, and on the days he did practice he didn't do a whole lot. It's fair at this point to doubt that he will start, at least early in the season."
And while this isn't the worst-case scenario, Lemon's career in the City of Brotherly Love hasn't gotten off on the right foot.
Makai Lemon's Eagles tenure hit an unexpected roadblock
Considering that Lemon missed both OTA and the start of camp, he's missing out on valuable reps. That is important for a rookie at any position, especially for someone who was brought in to make an impact from the get-go.
Brown's departure from Philadelphia opened up the door to plenty of targets. Last season, he had 121 targets, and the Eagles will need to find a way to fill those in. DeVonta Smith (hamstring) is also missing practice, which pushes Wicks, Hollywood Brown, and Darius Cooper into more playing time.
Lemon could have used those snaps, especially with Sean Mannion calling the plays on the offensive end. Still, that isn't the reality, and it will slow him down at the start of the season. The Eagles likely won't be comfortable throwing the rookie out there without being up to speed.
Granted, Lemon is most likely nose-deep in the playbook, but getting on-field action is where they truly learn. And since he hasn't been able to get much action during the spring and summer, expectations should be tempered.
That's a tough blow, but when he's back in the fold, fans should be excited. While Lemon isn't the biggest (5-foot-11) or fastest (4.50 40-yard dash), he's a savvy route runner who catches everything thrown his way. He finished his college career with a 2.8 percent drop rate and knows how to win against both man/zone coverage.
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He needs to find his way back onto the field, but fans shouldn't expect the USC product to have a big role to start the season off. Lemon must get onto the practice field before he can progress in that area.
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