2024 Dynasty Rookie Early Look: Xavier Legette, WR South Carolina
The crown jewel of this 2024 NFL Draft is the insanely deep, and talented, wide receiver class. While many are familiar with Marvin Harrison Jr and Malik Nabers, it’s important to familiarize yourself with all of the WRs who will be selected early in April.
Xavier Legette has an interesting profile that provides equal amounts of hope and skepticism. Is he just a late bloomer who needed some time, or are there serious concerns about his college production? Let’s find out!
Recruitment
Legette was a lightly recruited WR out of Mullins, SC who chose the Gamecocks over other teams in the area like Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, and Tennessee.
Courtesy of 247Sports.
He was ranked as a low four-star athlete by 247Sports, but the other recruiting services that ranked him exclusively as a WR had him as a middling three-star prospect who was roughly the 70th-rated WR in his class. He mostly played WR in high school but was forced to play quarterback during his senior season where he rushed for 1,826 yards and 19 touchdowns while throwing for 887 yards and 14 more touchdowns.
Collegiate Career
Courtesy of Sports Reference.
Legette did not experience the typical collegiate career that has become common for so many top-projected NFL draft prospects. During his first four years on campus, he had only 42 catches for only 423 yards. Instead, he carved out a role as an excellent special teams player and return man on both punts and kickoffs. There were some injury issues early on, but his lack of playing time was mostly due to his inability to break through in the rotation.
However, this all changed in 2023 when the fifth-year senior exploded onto the scene with 71 catches for 1,255 yards and seven touchdowns. Legette threatened a big play every time he lined up and finished 12th in the country with 3.15 yards per route run according to Pro Football Focus.
Courtesy of PFF.
Legette looked the part of a top-50 NFL draft pick this year, but there are obvious concerns about why it took him this long to produce at this level. Not only did it take him until his fifth season to tally more than 20 catches, but South Carolina’s presumptive #1 WR going into this season, Antwane Wells, hurt his foot in the first game of the year and only played 60 snaps in the first three games before being shut down for the year.
Strengths
- Excellent with the ball in his hands and gaining yards after the catch
- Big, physical WR who is comfortable in traffic
- His acceleration and burst after catching the football
- Wins a lot of contested catch opportunities with aggressive hands while attacking the ball in the air
Weaknesses
- Not a very polished route runner
- Simple route tree
- One year of real production is a huge concern
Draft Value
Courtesy of Mock Draft Database.
Legette did more than any other player in the country to improve his draft stock this fall through his play on Saturdays. He was an unknown special teams player who never would have been drafted, and now he’s skyrocketed up mock draft boards with a possibility to sneak into the end of the first round.
The majority of mock drafts have him going between the last two or three picks of the first round and the middle of the second round, an area that’s been littered with tier-two WRs in each of the last few NFL drafts.
I think his physical tools, and his built-in floor of being an excellent special teams player and returner, will entice some NFL franchises to take a shot on him in the second round. However, it will all depend on how comfortable these teams are with his complete lack of production throughout his first four seasons and whether or not NFL teams see that as a huge red flag.
Dynasty Outlook
As of right this moment, I’m not planning on drafting Xavier Legette in rookie drafts this spring. If he dominates the Scouting Combine and gets amazing draft capital, obviously that can change, but he does not possess the kind of profile I like targeting at the WR position.
He isn’t just a late breakout, he’s a “fifth-year late breakout only because the guy above him on the depth chart got hurt and South Carolina couldn’t run the ball so they threw it at the 12th-highest rate in the country”. That may be a bit harsh, but I feel like he has an awfully high bust chance and is not worth the risk based on other WRs who will be available around him which is the biggest hesitation for me. Based on DLF’s early rookie rankings, Legette is the WR11 in this class and falls in a massive third tier in the middle of the second round surrounded by guys I like way more. I’m looking to draft Ja’Lynn Polk, Jalen McMillan, and Devontez Walker all before Legette in a similar range.
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Drafts: A View from the 1.02 - April 22, 2024
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Drafts: A View from the 1.06 - April 18, 2024
- Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Profile: Devontez Walker, WR South Carolina - April 17, 2024
