Standing out in a wide receiver class like the 2024 NFL Draft can be tough, but that’s exactly what South Carolina’s Xavier Legette does with his size-speed combination and scouting report. Where does Legette rank in the 2024 class, and what can he give to an NFL offense?
Xavier Legette Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’1″
- Weight: 221 pounds
- Length: 31 7/8″
- Wingspan: 77 1/2″
- Hand: 9″
- Position: Wide Receiver
- School: South Carolina
- Current Year: Redshirt Senior
There is excitement surrounding Legette, and there are questions. Legette engineered a fifth-year breakout in 2023, amassing 71 catches for 1,255 yards and seven touchdowns, after accumulating just 423 total yards in his first four seasons at South Carolina combined.
Late breakouts at WR don’t always have a clean track record at the NFL level, but very few WRs have had to work through what Legette has.
Sources tell @caplannfl that @GamecockFB breakout star Xavier Legette may have the most upside of any WR in this year's draft class. 👀#NFLDraft | #SpursUp pic.twitter.com/OqeCNPOmTn
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) April 9, 2024
Legette lost his mother to breast cancer in the summer of 2015. And in March 2019, when he was a four-star recruit from Mullins High School in South Carolina, transitioning to the collegiate level, he lost his father, too.
Adversity comes in all forms, but Legette faced as much as one can envision, and in a transformative part of his life. It could’ve broken him, but Legette eventually emerged as one of the best WRs in college football.
Later, in the 2024 offseason and the 2024 NFL Draft cycle, Legette distinguished himself at the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine. And now, he’s widely viewed as an early-round pick.
Legette Scouting Report
Strengths
- Dense, compact receiver with a supersized core, rare mass, and a wide catch radius.
- Elite explosive threat and size-speed anomaly who can teleport upfield through creases.
- Flashes good hip flexibility and can roll his hips to pinch tight angles on corner routes.
- Shows glimpses of high-end throttle control and stop-and-start freedom as a separator.
- Able to snap back and swivel his base freely on hitches after pressing into stems.
- Can use head fakes to supplement inside sells and then bend and accelerate outside.
- Has great blind spot awareness and can use his speed and bend to peel behind DBs.
- Instinctive catch-point operator who can work back to underthrown balls and adapt.
- Able to authoritatively high-point passes and maintain possession through contact.
- Can snare high-difficulty passes beyond his frame with very little response time.
- Has shown he can gather passes in-stride over the middle while resetting feet for RAC.
- Able to use forceful bouts of targeted physicality to compound separation at stems.
- Can use physicality and play strength to fight through tugs and grabs and keep balance.
- Size, speed, and physicality amount to incredible upside as a RAC threat.
- Has the physical tools to maintain a presence as a run blocker on the boundary.
Weaknesses
- Appears tightly wound in space at times and doesn’t have high-end lateral quickness.
- Is primarily a vertical mover who at times struggles to channel his burst on redirections.
- Delays between lateral-vertical transitions limit his upside against press-man coverage.
- Hands can be too wide at the catch point at times, especially with DBs inside frame.
- Sometimes clap-catches when attacking the football, which can cause drops.
- Lacks elite hip flexibility and sometimes gets snagged when rolling across-face on DBs.
- At times, widens his base too much on releases and fails to displace defenders laterally.
- Plant-and-drive footwork and sink can be more consistent and efficient on comebacks.
- At times, can be more intentional with his vertical stem angle on crossing routes.
- Mass doesn’t always translate to elite contact balance in the RAC phase.
- Sometimes overshoots blocking angles in space, and effort can be inconsistent.
- Will be a 23-year-old rookie who broke out in his final collegiate season.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Legette grades out as a top-50 prospect and a fringe top-10 WR in the 2024 NFL Draft. He’s worthy of early-to-mid Day 2 consideration and could grow to become a quality X or movement-Z receiver in the NFL.
Size-speed profiles like Legette’s simply don’t come around often. He ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at 220 pounds and also hit as fast as 22.3 MPH in-game during the 2023 season. Not only is Legette’s top-end speed enthralling, but he reaches that speed almost instantly and can warp coverage and tackling angles as a result.
That size-speed profile alone is extremely appealing, but Legette’s appeal expands even beyond that combination. As a route runner, Legette has promising vertical pressing ability, blind spot IQ, bend through stems, and stopping capacity.
Meanwhile, at the catch point, Legette is one of the most imposing receivers in the class with his quick reaction speed, 32″ arms and swarming catch radius, high-end contortion ability, adaptable tracking, and strong hands.
Naturally, at his size, Legette moves much more freely on the vertical plane than on the lateral plane. That lateral stiffness limits him at times, especially on releases. Additionally, there are still route-running inefficiencies that Legette will need to cut down on before he reaches his ceiling.
KEEP READING: Top WRs in the 2024 NFL Draft
Still, Legette has enough nuance to support a vast functional route tree right out of the gate, and his size-speed profile, combined with his high-level catching instincts and hand strength, should make him an actionable vertical and RAC threat early on as well.
It’s difficult to find a viable comparison for a talent like Legette, but blending his speed, size, and play strength together, 1999 first-round pick David Boston bears some similarities. And Boston’s career does well to show that, if Legette can reach his ceiling, he can be an impact starter.
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