Why Panthers' Xavier Legette's job is in danger

Why Panthers' Xavier Legette's job is in danger originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Opportunities come and go quickly in the NFL.

Xavier Legette is only entering his third season in the league, but his job with the Carolina Panthers is already in jeopardy.

His draft pedigree will mean he isn't totally thrown aside, but Legette is already past the benefit of the doubt stage of proceedings. He has to prove himself.

If he doesn't, he could be looking at a demotion.

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Xavier Legette outlook

Legette was frequently targeted as a rookie in 2024, but the Panthers have moved to continue reshaping the WR room.

"Legette was a late college breakout drafted largely for his size/speed profile," ESPN's Ben Solak wrote in a new article on Wednesday. "At first it looked like the Panthers' receivers room would have plenty of space for his development -- Legette was the Panthers' leading target-getter as a rookie. But the emergence of undrafted free agent Jalen Coker and subsequent drafting of 2025 Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan pushed Legette down to No. 3 on the depth chart ... and now Chris Brazzell II has entered the building."

Brazzell is the guy that could eventually change things for Legette in a big way.

"The Panthers made the Tennessee wideout the 83rd pick last month in large part because of his own size/speed profile," Solak writes. "Brazzell is 6-foot-4 and 198 pounds, and he ran a 4.37-second 40-yard dash. He is a raw route runner from a system that translates poorly to the NFL, so it's unlikely he immediately excels at the next level. That gives Legette time to entrench himself as a more reliable option. But if he continues to lose targets, the Panthers will consider promoting Brazzell to that rarely targeted field-stretching role."

In Solak's article, he also amusingly takes a moment to point out that Buffalo's Keon Coleman has shielded some of the attention from Legette's disappointment.

But the reality is that the Panthers have already shown by their actions that they have their doubts about Legette. This season could be his last chance to prove them wrong.

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