The Carolina Panthers‘ Xavier Legette knows there’s a lot of mouths to feed in Dave Canales’ offense.
The third-year wide receiver was a first-round draft pick in 2024. After a solid rookie campaign that saw him post 49 receptions for 497 receiving yards and four touchdowns, his role decreases in his second year with the addition of Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan. Legette posted 35 catches for 363 receiving yards and three touchdowns last season.
So far this season, Legette has posted just two catches for 64 receiving yards. He missed the Panthers’ Week 3 loss against the Cleveland Browns with a knee injury after he was limited in practice during the week.
“Oh man, I’m just doing whatever the coaches ask me to do, man,” said Legette of his role in a one-on-one interview with Heavy Sports. “They need me to do anything. I’m willing to do it.”
Xavier Legette on Objectives This Season: ‘Team-Based’
The Panthers have a number of offense weapons alongside Bryce Young with Jalen Coker and McMillan as the main targets alongside running back Chuba Hubbard and veteran tight end Darren Waller. That leaves Legette as the fifth offense option on a suddenly stacked supporting cast.
Legette said he’s all about whatever role the team wants him to play and said his objectives this season are team based not individual based. The third-year receiver did say he wants to have a better year than he did last year.
“Team based, man,” said Legette. “I’m willing to do whatever for the team, and I just want to have a better year than I did last year.”
The 25-year-old receiver makes sure to give major praise to his head coach, Dave Canales, for the job he’s done this season.
“You could tell he’s a coach that want to win, man,” said Legette. “I think he’s a blue collar coach. He want us to play hard, and he’s gonna make sure that we’re gonna play hard. He puts us in positions to be able to win. I think he’s a good coach.”
The Panthers are off to a 1-2 start this season after winning the NFC South last year. The good news is, they’re tied at the top of the division with their rivals, the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons, through three weeks. It’s worth noting that the Panthers are technically atop of the division by virtue of their 34-3 victory over the Falcons in Week 2.
Carolina suffered a tight loss against the Browns after Deshaun Watson threw the game-winning 14-yard touchdown pass with 1:48 remaining in the fourth quarter to give Cleveland a 21-18 victory.
The schedule gets harder moving forward as the Panthers play host to the Detroit Lions in a Sunday Night Football game before going on the road to play the Philadelphia Eagles. Carolina will be looking to win at least one of those games to avoid going 1-4 to start the season.
Xavier Legette Partnering with Bojangles While Showing off His Horse
During the 2026 season, Legette is teaming up with with Bojangles for a new campaign centered around Halloween. The partnership see Legette show off the all-new Bojangles Bite Box with Pepsi Zero sugar wrapped in exclusive, limited edition haunted house packaging.
The campaign and content series also showcases Legette’s love for horses, featuring his real-life horse in the ad. The bite box is available for 20% off in the Bojangles app with the code 20BITEBOX.
“They post about me all the time with the love of horses and everything like that, and they came up with an idea, and I felt like it was a great idea,” said Legette. “And we took it, and ran with it.”
Legette said he didn’t want to spill too many details on the content series, but said it was “fun.”
“I can give you a little bit, I don’t want to give you everything, man” said Legette while laughing. “Because I want you to be amazed when once you see the see the product, man. But we brought the horses out and we played a little game and made it fun.”
Xavier Legette on His Reduced Role With Panthers Through Early Part of Season