Carolina Panthers second-year wide receiver Xavier Legette is looking to improve on his rookie season and become a solid option for Panthers quarterback Bryce Young. Right now, though, Legette is being hampered by an injury.
Without Legette as part of the Panthers’ wide receiver corps, it would put additional pressure on the team’s other receivers to take up the slack.
What’s Happening with Xavier Legette?
According to Carolina head coach Dave Canales, Legette came up with soreness in his hamstrings. He is officially listed as questionable for Week 3.
Canales said the soreness did just “kind of pop up” after the team went through individual drills, according to Joe Person, who covers the Panthers for The Athletic.
Dave Canales said Xavier Legette had some hamstring soreness “kind of pop up” after individual drills today, so Panthers shut him down.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) September 17, 2025
At that point, Canales and the Panthers’ medical personnel decided it would be a good idea to shut Legette down for the rest of practice. There was no further word on Legette’s hamstring situation later on Wednesday.
Hopefully, Legette’s injury will not keep him out of action on Sunday.
In the Panthers’ first two games, both losses to the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Arizona Cardinals, Legette was targeted 15 times but had only four receptions for eight yards.
Legette had 49 catches in his rookie season in 2024 for 497 yards and four touchdowns.
Xavier Legette Fantasy Outlook
Ahead of Carolina’s loss to the Cardinals, PFSN’s Kyle Soppe offered some fantasy football information about Legette and how players might look to use him in their leagues.
“In the opener against the Jaguars, an iffy defense where game script worked in the favor of the Panthers’ pass game, Legette managed, checks notes, four fantasy points,” Soppe wrote.
“Bryce Young, for one week at least, was unable to build upon his strong finish to the 2024 season and if that sustains, this offense isn’t going to be a great bet to sustain one viable receiver, let alone the WR2 role that is Legette’s ceiling behind Tetairoa McMillan,” Soppe wrote.
Xavier Legette is the second player in NFL history to have a game with negative yards on at least eight targets pic.twitter.com/qdqAd7pN16
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) September 15, 2025
“I’m not cutting ties just yet, a 20.6% target share is something for a team that will be trailing with regularity this season, but there’s no reason to have him near starting lineups right now.”
Legette played his college football at South Carolina and was a first-round draft pick for the Panthers in the 2024 NFL Draft. In five seasons with the Gamecocks, Legette had 113 receptions for 1,678 yards and 12 touchdowns.
The Panthers hoped that Legette would be a solid asset to their offense. After his rookie season, Canales and the Carolina offensive staff want him to be a go-to receiver for Young. The team will be watching him closely to make sure his hamstring issues are resolved quickly.
