Makai Lemon’s first appearance in an Eagles uniform was hardly spectacular, with the receiver catching just three of his five targets for a meager three yards. If that wasn’t enough, he was also targeted on an interception thrown by Tanner McKee and muffed a punt late in the game. Yeah, not exactly the fireworks you expect from a first-round pick, right? But before anyone starts hitting the panic button, let’s pump the brakes on judging a guy after one preseason game.
Lemon’s Debut: More Than Meets the Eye?
Look, the raw numbers for Lemon’s debut are rough. Three catches, three yards, an INT target, and a muffed punt? Oof. But when you dive into the film, especially the All-22, it paints a slightly different picture. What looked like a slow release on the TV copy actually looked better from a wide angle. Lemon has never been an outstanding separator against press coverage, and that’s probably not changing, but his work at the line of scrimmage in this game was genuinely good. He beat the initial contact, got on top of the cornerback, and put himself in a position to win vertically. That’s the hard part, and he did it well!
The real hiccup came at the top of the route. Lemon glanced inside without truly selling the possibility of breaking in that direction. That allowed the cornerback to read the route and make a play on the football. You can’t just look in one direction and expect NFL corners to bite consistently, man. He’s gotta get better at manipulating those defensive backs once he’s established leverage. So, while it wasn’t an ideal debut, you know what? It definitely wasn’t a disastrous one either. There’s something to build on there.
Backup QB Chaos Has to Stop
Now, let’s talk about the backup quarterback situation, because wow, this has been a mess all summer. The Eagles rotated Andy Dalton, Tanner McKee, and Cole Payton, and honestly, it felt like it prevented any of them from really finding a rhythm. And out of that whole rotation, Tanner McKee looks like he suffered the most. He completed just 12 of 22 passes for 55 yards and an interception in this final preseason game, finishing the preseason looking way less comfortable than anyone expected.
McKee’s biggest limitation popped up big time: he’s just not going to consistently create outside the structure of a play. So when the original concept breaks down, he needs to make a super quick decision. That’s why the rotation thing was so frustrating. How are you supposed to develop that kind of quick decision-making and comfort when you’re constantly swapping out? This absolutely has to be settled before Week 1.
Thank goodness that’s over, seriously. The next time we’re breaking down film, it’s gonna be a real football game, not a preseason tease! Let’s get this show on the road!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bleeding Green Nation.
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