Lake McRee is a tight end and 2026 NFL Draft prospect who played his entire five-year collegiate career with the USC Trojans. A native of Austin, Texas, McRee was a three-star recruit and the 21st-ranked tight end nationally in the 2021 class before enrolling at USC as an early graduate. He appeared in four games as a true freshman in 2021 before redshirting and began contributing as a rotational tight end and special teams performer across the 2022 and 2023 seasons, catching 10 passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns in his first full season and adding 26 receptions for 262 yards and a score in 2023. He grew into a starter in 2024, recording 24 receptions for 245 yards and earning All-Big Ten Honorable Mention recognition. His best and most complete season came in 2025, when he posted career highs with 30 receptions for 450 yards and four touchdowns while earning Second Team All-Big Ten honors and serving as USC's third-leading receiver, finishing his Trojans career with 97 receptions for 1,154 yards and seven touchdowns across 51 games. He declared for the 2026 NFL Draft and was invited to both the East-West Shrine Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine.
Standing 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, McRee is known for physicality as a blocker who competes with the effort and toughness to hold his assignments in both run support and pass protection, reliable hands over the middle of the field and along the seam where he is most effective as a route runner, the football intelligence accumulated over five seasons in a major Power Five offense that gives him genuine scheme comprehension at the professional level, and the durability to appear in 51 career games while battling knee injuries at various points throughout his career. His route tree still needs continued development beyond the intermediate area, and his blocking technique has room to improve against stronger edge defenders in the NFL. Evaluators project him as a Day 3 tight end with the size, versatility, and competitive makeup to develop into a reliable TE2 capable of contributing in two-tight-end sets and impacting the kicking game from day one of his professional career.
