Inside Xavier Legette's Path to Becoming a Panther

The journey from being just a guy at South Carolina to becoming a first round pick.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Xavier Legette and the Carolina Panthers have been tied together since the early part of the draft process. 

Their interest in the former Gamecock was the worst kept secret in the NFL... no, really. Legette even revealed in a pre-draft interview that the Panthers told him they would select him if he made it to their pick at the top of the second round. Head coach Dave Canales did his best to play it off, acting as if he was unsure of how to pronounce his last name and stated that he told about 50 other guys the same thing in regards to their interest. Well played, Dave. Well played. 

Alright, alright… in Canales’ defense, we were all wrong on the pronunciation. Friday afternoon, Xavier cleared things up stating that it is ‘LEE-gette.’

Once Canales was able to speak freely about his admiration for the freakishly athletic wide receiver, he didn’t hold back.

“We loved him. I'm not going to sit here and lie about that for sure. But yeah, I meant what I said. There's a lot of guys that we were excited about at that area, at 33, even late in the first round. I think it was just really cool for me with my first experience really being in the draft room for the whole time to see the process, really to see his patience and just like working through, seeing the guys starting to come off the board and just saying, 'Not yet. Not yet.' And then in Dan Morgan fashion, there was daylight and he went, 'Bang.' And he hit the hole just like everyone has seen him do in his career. It was just amazing to see the patience of it and for it all come to us like this to get the guy that we love. For us, this whole process has been about, 'Let's get guys, not just great football players, but guys that really are us, are Panthers.' And so this is just a memorable one for sure for us that we won't ever forget.”

The focus for Carolina this offseason was to find reliable weapons for second-year quarterback Bryce Young. They needed speed, so they went out and traded for Diontae Johnson. They needed a big-body that could be a three level threat and moved up to snag Legette. He brings a unique skillset to the table that did not previously exist on the roster and Canales is already running through all the many different ways of how he can get him the ball.

“First of all, just the athletic traits. Just like height, weight, speed. 6'1,221, 4.39, really balanced hands. That's a pretty good start. Then you look at the versatile ways that the Gamecocks were able to use him out of the backfield, jet sweeps, short crossers, and perimeter screens, down the field post. There really isn't much else we do with receivers. He's done it all, in the past, coaches that I've been with have said how quickly can you make a cut-up of a player that does all the things you need. That's how you can really gravitate towards guys. Whether it's a quarterback making all the throws that you need to see. Whether it's a receiver running the different routes. Does he need polish? Absolutely. But to be able to see that on film gives you a lot of confidence and, it really helps me envision him fitting into our offense, so that stuff really just jumped off the tape.

“Our offense, the versatility of how we use our players just going back to last year in Tampa Bay, even before in Seattle. The versatility is huge for us. When you get a guy who can really run, a guy who can high point the ball, a guy that can carry it and you can give him the ball different ways, short, he just brings a lot of versatility. Now with that being said, he's got a long way to go. He's got to learn our stuff. He's got to figure out the system and find out how he fits into the whole thing, not just the pass game, but the run game as well. Just speaking to that, I think I'm just really excited to bring his talents to our offense. And at the same time, I'm sure he knows too, he's got a lot of work in front of him.

Although it wasn’t at 33, they still landed on the guy they’ve had their eyes on for several months, dating back to the Senior Bowl. Legette said he felt the interest was genuine from Carolina during that week in Birmingham where he met with the Panthers’ brass on several occasions.

“I could feel the love and the vibe coming from them. I knew if it wasn't them, I wasn't going to be sure, but I had a good feeling about them,” Legette said. “I was just waiting to hear my name called. Once they called me and told me that they were trading up for me there was a lot of joy and excitement.”

Going in the first round was never a sure thing for Legette, and really, never felt promising until the final week leading up to the draft. He spent the first four years of his career at South Carolina fighting just to get on the field and in his last go around, he made it count. In twelve games he recorded 71 receptions for 1,255 yards and seven touchdowns, catching the attention of teams across the league.

“A year ago, man, I wasn’t on anybody’s board. I never let that get to me. I just knew I had an extra year and it was a do-or-die season for me. I had to do it or go home,” Legette stated. “Through the process everybody been telling me and my agent had been telling me what my range was and I was just waiting on when my name was goin to be called.”