Dynasty Rookie Report Card: Xavier Legette & Malachi Corley

Xavier Legette | © Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

John DiBari Posted On November 9, 2024

Each week throughout the 2024 NFL season, I’ll cover two rookies in the Rookie Report Card and will generally write about the most prominent performers from that particular week. I’ll discuss how well he’s lived up to expectations at the NFL level and then grade the player in three categories: performance to date, rookie season potential, and long-term upside.

Xavier Legette, WR CAR

Week 9 stats: 4 receptions on 6 targets for 33 yards and one touchdown, and one carry for six yards.

After a bit of a slow start, the Panthers’ Xavier Legette is becoming a steady producer. He found the end zone in week nine, his second straight game with a score, and has scored in three of his last four games and in four of his last six. With Diontae Johnson out in week eight and playing for the Ravens in week nine, Legette has officially become the Panthers WR1 (although, somehow, he is being outsnapped by David Moore). He has led the team in targets in his top receiver role, with four receptions in each game and 33 and 34 yards, respectively. In a lost season for a bad Carolina team, Legette has been one of the few bright spots so far.

In college, Legette basically did nothing for four seasons. In his first four years in college, he amassed only 42 receptions in 41 games. Then, as a 22-year old fifth-year senior, Legette finally broke out, putting up 71 receptions in 12 games while accumulating 1255 yards—75% of his 1678-yard college career total. So far he passes the eyeball test and doesn’t look out of place in the NFL, but it begs to question why he couldn’t do more over his first four seasons in college.

Born and raised in South Carolina, he then went to the University of South Carolina and ended up with the Carolina Panthers on draft day; geographically speaking he was arguably the best fit in the draft. One concern for dynasty folks is his age. Legette will turn 24 in January, making him an older rookie, so if he can’t get his bearings in the NFL quickly, the window is already closing on him. It obviously wasn’t a concern for the Panthers, as they traded up into the first round to grab Legette. He was a steady climber during draft season, starting at 21st overall as WR11 and finishing as 14th overall as WR9 following the NFL draft. He even managed to squeeze into the first round of rookie mock drafts 20% of the time.

Performance to Date: C

Despite being the top weapon on a team that will struggle to get four wins, Legette hasn’t seemed to pop for fantasy yet. He’s been good enough to use as a flex option recently, but considering he was a first-round pick, I think many of us had higher expectations. He is 14th among rookies in PPR scoring and is WR44 through nine weeks. He’s been dealing with a couple of nagging injuries, but so is most of the league.

Rookie Season Potential: B

If Legette can keep up what we’ve seen over the last few weeks, he should be a low-end WR2 for the remainder of his rookie season. He has a higher ceiling too if the awful Panthers tried to get him the ball more. As their top option in the passing attack, there are no reasons for them not to give him 10ish targets each week. Back in week four, Legette got ten targets, and he turned that into a 6/66/1 stat line- his best fantasy game of the season. I’d like more of that.

Long-Term Upside: B+

I’m a fan of Legette’s and I wish he was tied to a better quarterback than Bryce Young. However, it sure seems like Carolina is leaning towards moving in a different direction than Young, so there might be some hope down the line. Legette has the skill (and was given the draft capital) to be an NFL lead receiver. Assuming he secures that role, he’ll probably be a career high-end WR2 for fantasy, which is great since only 12 players can be actual WR1s. I would be a buyer in the Xavier Legette market if anyone is selling.

Malachi Corley, WR NYJ

Week 9 stats: no receptions, no targets, 1 carry for 18 yards.

Malachi Corley was one of my favorite players in the late-second/early-third round of rookie drafts. Entering the season, only Garrett Wilson, oft-injured 30-year old Mike Williams, 28-year old Allen Lazard, and Xavier Gipson were ahead of Corley on an Aaron Rodgers-led Jets offense perceived to be on the upswing. Instead, we’ve got a huge disappointment out of the Big Apple, even after the Jets traded for Davante Adams. Nothing sums up this season for the Jets like what we thought was Malachi Corley’s first career touchdown:

Malachi Corley dropping the ball before breaking the plane for a touchdown is a good summary of 2024 New York Jets football pic.twitter.com/1Jb8y8fKd1

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) November 1, 2024

At the end of the day, for whatever reason, Corley just hasn’t been able to get on the field. He has only played 14 snaps all season, hauling in one catch on one target, and one carry. His fumble in prime time last Thursday was significant enough to get him featured in this week’s rookie report card.

Initially recruited as a cornerback, Corley was converted to receiver during his first pre-season practices at Western Kentucky. In college, Corley led Conference USA in receptions and receiving yards as a sophomore in 2022, and in 2023 he led the conference in touchdowns. Those back-to-back seasons garnered him attention from NFL circles heading into the 2024 draft, garnering him the sixth-highest grade among wide receivers from NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein.

For reference, only Malik Nabers, Marvin Harrison Jr, Rome Odunze, Brian Thomas Jr, and Ladd McConkey were the players graded higher than Corley- whose most common player comparison was Deebo Samuel due to his size, aggression, and run-after-the-catch abilities.

When the NFL draft rolled around, the Jets selected Corley with the first pick of the third round as the 12th receiver selected. In dynasty circles, nothing seemed to move the needle in any direction as Corley was steadily between 22nd and 25th overall and between WR12 and WR15 throughout the off-season.

Performance to Date: F

As mentioned earlier, Corley has only 14 snaps with one target and one carry. Maybe “incomplete” would be a more appropriate grade, but it’s not like Mike Williams or Xavier Gipson were performing so well, that Corley had no path to more snaps or targets. He’s 57th among rookies in points scored, and as far as I can tell, as far as points vs ADP is concerned, he looks to be the biggest disappointment among this year’s rookie class.

Rookie Season Potential: F+

If Corley couldn’t get work behind Garrett Wilson and Mike Williams, he certainly isn’t getting snaps behind Davante Adams and Wilson. Allen Lazard’s move to IR might open up a little work, but Corley’s costly fumble might be enough to keep him in the dog house and give Xavier Gipson more work. Lazard’s injury is the only reason Corley gets the bump to an F+.

Long-Term Upside: C+

I still like the player, although we’ve seen many receivers do nothing as long as Aaron Rodgers has his “favorites” on the field. Corley might not hit his potential until the Rodgers-Jets experiment runs its course, which could be in 2026. He’s nothing more than a taxi squad stash until further notice.

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John DiBari

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

Like a true degenerate, John has over 20 years of fantasy experience across all sports. Nowadays he primarily focuses on dynasty and redraft football, fantasy golf, and fantasy hockey and has written about each across multiple platforms for nearly 5 years. He loves rookie mock drafts and can always find a negative, pessimistic angle on all your favorite players.