Just a few days away from the Biletnikoff Award announcement, the national consensus is that the award will be given to one of the Big Ten conference’s two best receivers: USC football‘s Makai Lemon or Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State.
Each wideout has had an incredible season and they should go on to have very productive football careers in college and the NFL. Who was the best receiver in college football this season? Has that narrative changed after the Big Ten Championship Game?
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A note on Skyler Bell
Before we continue with the comparison between Makai Lemon and Jeremiah Smith, I want to make sure that I acknowledge that there is a third finalist for the Biletnikoff award, Skyler Bell of UConn.
Bell has had an incredible season. He has recorded 101 catches for 1,276 yards and 13 touchdowns, and he might not be done yet. UConn still has a bowl game to play, the Wasabi Fenway Bowl, on December 27. If Bell plays in that game his numbers could increase even more.
If the award was purely based on a player’s overall numbers at the Division I level, then Bell deserves to win. However, more consideration is usually given to receivers who play on better football teams with tougher conference schedules and perform against tougher defenses.
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We saw this last season. Nick Nash of San Jose State had better stats than Travis Hunter of Colorado and Tetairoa McMillan of Arizona. But Hunter took home the Heisman. Colorado is a Big 12 school and Hunter happened to put up his massive statlines while also playing cornerback on defense.
It seems Skyler Bell is destined to be this year’s Nick Nash. Keep your head up though, Skyler. It’s a huge honor to come from a school like UConn and even be nominated for this prestigious award. I hope you have an amazing NFL career.
Cumulative performance: Makai Lemon
Now, onto the Lemon vs Smith debate. I think Makai Lemon has pretty clearly put together a better overall season than Jeremiah Smith.
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Lemon has accumulated more yards and averaged more yards per catch despite the fact that Smith has played in one extra game. The two have the same amount of receiving touchdowns…but Lemon actually has 2 more total touchdowns because he ran for two touchdowns during the season and threw for a touchdown against Oregon. Smith has 1 rushing TD and no pass TDs.
Smith has 1 more catch than Lemon, but remember, he’s had the advantage of playing in 1 more game. And that is the only major statistical category that Smith has an advantage over Lemon.
They both played Big Ten schedules, so their level of competition has been pretty even. Lemon and USC have played 5 ranked teams while Smith and Ohio State have played 4, including Indiana in the Big Ten championship.
Best individual performance: Makai Lemon
Any way you want to slice it, Makai Lemon has definitely had a more “Biletnikoff worthy” individual performance than Jeremiah Smith this season.
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Lemon had 150+ receiving yards in four different games this season. Smith only reached 150 yards once. Lemon had 3 games of 10+ catches. Smith had 1. Lemon had 5 games of 2+ touchdowns while Smith had 4.
Lemon’s signature performance will likely be considered his 10 catches for 153 yards and 1 touchdown against Iowa, where he made some incredible circus catches and helped USC storm back against a tough Iowa defense in the rain at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
But again, you can have your pick of plenty of other games. 11 catches for 165 yards and 2 total touchdowns against Northwestern. 11 catches for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a highlight-reel touchdown catch, against Illinois. 2 receiving TDs and a passing TD against Oregon.
I’d take any of those over Jeremiah Smith’s best game. I couldn’t even tell you what Jeremiah Smith’s best game of the season was.
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Big game heroics: it’s a toss up
In sports, being the best is often intrinsically tied to being the most clutch. I am not sure I would say either receiver was clearly more clutch this season.
Jeremiah Smith hasn’t really needed to be clutch because Ohio State has been so good. But he did have some of his worst games statistically against ranked opponents (Texas, Illinois, Michigan) while beating up on bad teams (Grambling, Ohio, Wisconsin, Penn State, Purdue).
Smith’s advantage in the clutch category is that his most clutch game was this last weekend. In a Big Ten title game where neither team could get much going offensively, Smith had 8 catches for 144 yards. Recency bias is a powerful thing. But does it even matter in this situation? Ohio State didn’t win.
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Lemon had some very clutch performances against Illinois (in a USC loss) and against Iowa (in a USC win). But he struggled on the road and in some of USC’s tougher games (Nebraska, Notre Dame).
There’s a clutch gene to be found in both receivers, but it wasn’t consistent enough that I would deem one guy more clutch than the other.
Team success: Jeremiah Smith
It’s impossible to quantify exactly how much each individual player has an impact on winning. But, Jeremiah Smith has been one of the best players on a top 2 team in the entire country, and that has to count for something, especially if you think these awards should be treated like MVP awards. Team success certainly factors into the Heisman. Whether it should factor into the Biletnikoff or not, it certainly makes a player like Smith more visible nationally.
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There’s several different ways to look at this though. Because Smith has so much talent around him, does that make it easier for him to individually perform because opposing defenses are showing him less attention? Or does it make it harder because he has to share the rock?
The opposite applies to Lemon. Are his numbers more weighty because he had more responsibility on his shoulders? Or do they count for less because he was a go-to player?
USC had plenty of talent on offense around Lemon, so it’s not like he was carrying a sinking ship. And defense was the strength of this Ohio State team; it’s not like Smith was just a cog in the wheel of a 2019 LSU offense. If I had to guess, I’d say the weight on Lemon’s shoulders was a bit heavier than Smith’s, but that’s not Smith’s fault.
Other factors
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Makai Lemon did not start USC’s final game against UCLA and had only 1 catch for 32 yards and 1 touchdown. Riley said that Lemon and fellow wideout Ja’Kobi Lane sat out the entire first quarter for disciplinary reasons: “a violation of team policy”. Will Lemon getting in trouble ahead of his last chance to make a Biletnikoff impression affect the voters’ perception of his character, even though he has a clean slate otherwise?
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Julian Sayin is a Heisman candidate, Jayden Maiava is not. This means that, in effect, Sayin is considered one of the consensus best quarterbacks in the country while Maiava isn’t. Does Smith’s big season hold less weight because his quarterback is apparently so great? Or, does Lemon’s big season hold more weight because his quarterback isn’t elite by national standards?
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Lemon is a junior who is more than likely going to be a first round NFL draft pick this coming offseason. Smith is a sophomore who has 1 more year with the Buckeyes, and will enter next season as the odds on favorite to win the 2026 Biletnikoff. Will the voters give the Biletnikoff to Lemon because this is likely his last chance to win the award, while Smith has one more season to bring it home?
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My pick: Makai Lemon
I think it’s pretty clear that Makai Lemon has been the better wide receiver this season. He has the stats and highlights. He passes the eye test. His value to this year’s Trojan cannot be overstated; he could be considered team MVP.
Obviously I am a little biased as a USC reporter. But I feel like I’ve been fair to Lemon all season: giving him praise where it’s due and criticism when I feel he has fallen short.
Ultimately, whether Lemon wins the award or not, nothing can take away the special season he had, the memories he made alongside USC fans and the fact that he has established himself as an elite NFL prospect.
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Let’s just hope that the rest of the country, and especially the Biletnikoff award committee, can see just how special he is as well.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Makai Lemon and Jeremiah Smith are favorites for Biletnikoff award
