Red flags were aplenty when it came to Makai Lemon, whom the Philadelphia Eagles selected in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Lemon reportedly had some odd comments during his pre-draft interviews and also appeared to have some limitations in his game.
The Eagles decided they needed Lemon, though, and former NFL quarterback Cody Kessler had Lemon's back. Kessler, who played college football at Lemon's alma mater, USC, came to the rescue and defended the Eagles' first-round pick. Kessler said that the Eagles are getting a good one and not to worry about the negativity surrounding Lemon.
"[Lemon] is all business all the time. And I promise you, Philadelphia is getting a great player on and off the field," Kessler said on The Arena: Gridiron. "I covered USC football very closely for the last three years. I saw Makai Lemon's entire career as a Trojan. There is not one person on that campus or inside that building at USC that has anything negative to say about Makai Lemon as a player and as a person. And I want to put some of those narratives to bed because there's been a lot of criticism over his interviews and a lot of people have been questioning his character."
Cody Kessler shoots down Makai Lemon's red flags
So, there you have it. Kessler knows what he's talking about when it comes to USC football, so if he's saying that Lemon is all business and that these red flags people have been linking him to are false, that feels like a pretty good source to lean on.
Read more: Even Skip Bayless came to Makai Lemon's defense after Micah Parsons shade
The Eagles needed help at wide receiver, especially with all of the A.J. Brown trade rumors, and Lemon gives them just that as the team enters a crucial 2026 season. The red flags might have seemed concerning, but Howie Roseman clearly believes Lemon can help this team, and hopefully he and Kessler are right.
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