The Carolina Panthers have given last years number one overall pick a new target man, as they traded up into the first round to select South Carolina WR Xavier Legette.
The former Gamecocks receiver caught only 113 passes in his college career, gaining 1,678 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Panthers take shot on raw skills
PFF had this to say of the Panthers new WR prior to the draft, “Leggette does not have too much experience as the focal point of a passing attack, but 2023 showed he is capable of that. He is not as polished as a route runner/release artist as he needs to be to achieve his potential at the NFL level, but teams take a chance on players of his build.”
Panthers General Manager Dan Morgan talked about the trade up and how the pick will help new head coach Dave Canales offence, “I think once the wideouts were taken—Brian Thomas was taken and then I felt like there was gonna be a little run on wideouts after that,” he stated.
“The fifth-year option is definitely important. I think, obviously, that was a big reason to trade up into the first round,” he said. “Besides the player, we loved Xavier. Everything he brought—not only as a person, but as a player. Like, his ability to attack the ball when it’s in the air, his ability to run with it after the catch, he’s big, he’s strong, he’s physical. Think he has a lot of upside. So we wanted to take that opportunity to go get our guy.”
“Then Xavier Worthy got taken. And we liked some of those guys and with Xavier [Legette] out there, we were just like—we don’t wanna put ourself in a bad situation to where we’re not gonna be able to get the guy we wanna get. He was our target, we really liked him and we went and got him.”
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