Xavier Legette was drafted to be the top wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers.
That’s the expectation when a WR is chosen in the first round of the NFL Draft — even if it’s the 32nd and final pick of the first round, like Legette.
Instead, Legette has been passed by.
He still plays for the Panthers, even as he’s a prominent name in trade rumor mills.
But really, he doesn’t play much of a key role for Carolina. He’s got multiple wideouts ahead of him who weren’t featured in the plans when he first arrived.
Legette has fallen so far off of expectation that now him just doing anything at all for the Panthers feels like a win.
Why Isn’t Xavier Legette in a Key Role?
Legette has simply failed to seize his chance to be a star for Carolina.
They took him 32nd overall in 2024 out of Carolina, and he looks the part. He stands 6-foot-3 and 227 pounds, and he can run by people.
All of that hasn’t led to a ton of production, though.
As a rookie, the Panthers gave Legette the chance. He played in 16 games and was targeted 84 times. He caught 49 of those for 497 yards and four touchdowns.
His numbers got worse in 2025. In 15 games, Legette was targeted 64 times and caught 35 of them for 363 yards and three touchdowns.
And in Week 1 of the 2026 season? Legette was targeted twice and didn’t catch either of those throws from Bryce Young.
In a game the Panthers scored 37 points, Legette had no offensive production.
He simply hasn’t been able to turn his traits into output. He’s not the only receiver that has happened to, and it doesn’t mean he’s hopeless. Bills wideout Keon Coleman is in a similar spot, drafted right behind Legette in 2024 and mostly a bust, but he just had a big game on Thursday night. Guys with talent can still turn it around.
Legette just hasn’t done it yet, and it gets harder to believe he will.
In part, it’s because he’s been leapfrogged on the depth chart.
Panthers WR Depth Chart
Legette is the clear No. 3 receiver for the Panthers, proven by the snap counts in Week 1.
But he’s also clearly behind two other guys: Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker.
McMillan was the clear talent that everyone believed he would be when he was picked in the first round in 2025.
Coker has turned himself from an underdog into a rising star.
Both have the trust of Young, and he likely will keep throwing to them heavily throughout the season.
It’ll be up to Legette to find any scraps he can to contribute to a team trying to defend its division title. It’s not what anyone imagined for Legette, but it’s where he finds himself now.
Why Xavier Legette Isn’t Playing Key Role for Panthers in WR Depth Chart