Name: Xavier Legette

School: South Carolina

Year: Senior (5th year) 

Position: Wide Reciever

Measurables: 6’1”, 221 lbs. (Combine Measurements)

Combine: ARM: 31 7/8th”. HAND: 9”. VERTICAL: 40”. BROAD: 10’6”. BENCH: DNP. 40-YD DASH: 4.39. 10-YD SPLIT: 1.54. 20-YD SHUTTLE: DNP.

Stats:

Courtesy of Sports-Reference.com

General Info:

Legette had as unconventional a route to the NFL as you’ll find. His high school resume included a senior season as a starting quarterback, three years of productive wide receiver play, and experience playing basketball and baseball to boot. He came onto South Carolina’s campus in the Fall of 2019 as a four-star recruit, but he was viewed as positionless—an “Athlete” according to the 247 recruiting database. In his freshman campaign, he caught 9 passes and saw action in 11 games with the Gamecocks. 

His sophomore, junior, and senior seasons were more of the same. Legette, obsessed with “the process” and maniacal about rigorous Tuesday-through-Thursday game prep, didn’t have a lot to show for his process through four years in South Carolina. 

The Gamecocks experienced a ton of overhaul in this time, as the transfer portal drained high-caliber talent and brought constant new additions. In four years, Legette only logged 42 receptions for 423 yards and 5 touchdowns. Though the ship in South Carolina wasn’t steady through Legette’s first four years, he trusted the process and kept putting in the work. 

In the Spring of 2023, he trained for a week and a half with NFL standout Deebo Samuel. In the Fall, Legette stepped onto campus with the confidence that he could do anything as long as he had the ball in his hands. In Legette’s first game, he logged 9 catches for 178 yards and never looked back. The fifth-year senior finished the year with 71 receptions for 1,255 yards, and 7 touchdowns. As an added bit of versatility, Legette also averaged a career 26.4 yards on kick returns as a Gamecock.

Injury-wise, Legette missed the final three quarters against Missouri in 2023 in week 7. He returned the next week against Texas A&M and was healthy for the remainder of the season. He also tweaked his ankle in the practice week leading up to the Senior Bowl, sitting out the game.

Positional Skills:

Strengths

Legette was never a slouch on film speed-wise, but WOW was his 4.39 time at the 40-yard dash a pleasant surprise! He showed good burst and got to his top speed quickly out of his releases. On routes designed to clear out defenders, he had enough speed to keep defensive backs honest.

Legette also showed promise as a route runner. His size and strength helped him beat defenders when changing directions. His greatest advantage as a route runner was in finding the soft spots in defenses and knowing how to manipulate defenders to get open. In the first quarter against Georgia this season, he ran a dead sprint past the defensive back who was covering him. As the DB turned back to look at the quarterback, Legette knew he was in the DB’s blind spot and threw on the brakes to get open for a curl route and a first down. Legette also had the speed and technique to get behind SEC defensive backs on deep routes and box them out for over the shoulder catches. 

Legette was as sure-handed a prospect as there is in this draft. While he doesn’t have the capacity for the crazy catches that you’ll see out of guys like Marvin Harrison Jr., Legette caught passes with strong hands even when he was covered. This was the area of his game where his preparation was most apparent. He even had some catches out of the backfield this season. As long as the ball was in his zip code, he could go get it.

Similarly to his route running, Legette’s savvy and feel for the game was apparent in his ability to get upfield after the catch and gain yards. He consistently opted to dart forward after catches to gain yards, rather than running backwards or towards the sidelines to try and make a highlight-reel play. He was a smooth runner with the ball in his hands, reading run lanes and taking good angles to get the most yardage possible after the catch. Legette’s run blocking also made him a guy that the Gamecocks could put out on the field for three downs. He was a credible blocker and always hit his assignment well. 

Legette was a stud in all phases of the receiving game for South Carolina. He was consistent, showed great film study in where he positioned himself, and had strong hands against the toughest defenses in the nation (including Georgia). His combine results show that he has physical gifts that might improve his play even further at the next level with more reps than he saw in his first four years at South Carolina. His physicality, savvy, and effort made him a threat that the defense had to respect on every down in the pass game and as a blocker.

Weaknesses

On film, Legette played with enough speed to gain separation on defensive backs who he beat on routes, but not enough speed to flat-out burn defensive backs. The only knock on him when running the ball, which was not a weak point of his game, was also a lack of top-end burst which limited him from making a move against defenders or out-running many SEC guys.

Physical gifts like gility and quickness aren’t where he won on routes. Technique was.

Legette had some room to improve in his releases out of routes as well. He was not one to consistently beat defenders at the line of scrimmage, but he never gave up on a route and usually found success across the route tree.

Later in the 2023 season, he had some plays where it seemed he may have needed to get better initial positioning, or needed finish through blocks more, but he was always a willing blocker even when he missed on technique.

Finally — experience is something that raises a slight concern for me. It’s concerning when a guy is dormant for four years at a program, but there were also constantly shifting sands at coach and quarterback during his first four years. This isn’t a huge concern for me with Legette, but it’s something to keep in mind when evaluating him next to his peers. 

Fit with the Packers:

Legette fits the mold of the type of receiver the Packers have loved drafting for the past two years. He has the physical presence of a Romeo Doubs or a Christian Watson, with the route running instincts of Dontayvion Wicks and the vision of Jayden Reed in the open field. While all of those guys have pro assets that make them studs for the Packers, Legette has the tools to carve out his own niche in a packed Green Bay wide receiver room. His commitment to the process of getting better, his patience to put the team first, his drive to be great, and his willingness to do everything from blocking to running a vertical route all combine to make him a LaFleur guy, a Gutey guy. Legette also comes in as a skilled return man, and at 6’1” and 221 lbs he would instantly be among the bigger return-men in football. Rotating him in for returns would also give him a chance to adjust to NFL speed as the offense will be loaded with options who Jordan Love is already comfortable with in 2024.

If Green Bay were to draft Legette, it would likely be in a situation where he would be the best player on the board at the 58th pick. There are definitely multiple teams interested in Legette after his stunning senior campaign, but this draft is loaded with receivers who have a variety of skill sets. That likely means there will be an odd man out on Day 2 of the draft. If that odd man out is Legette, it would be hard to pass on him at 58. He would instantly ramp up the competition level of a receiver room where guys are already grinding like crazy to get on the field and to get touches. If Gutey and LaFleur wanted to keep that grind up while adding a guy whose personality would fit with the locker room, Legette would be an exciting prospect. Legette also gives the Packers some flexibility if Watson’s injuries don’t shore themselves up this year, or if Rome has another great couple of seasons and wants to test the free agency market in a couple of years. 

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