Carolina Panthers Trade Up, Draft Xavier Legette No. 32 Overall

After producing one of the greatest seasons in South Carolina football history, Xavier Legette is heading to the next level.

The Mullins, S.C. native is staying in the Carolinas, heading up I-77 to Charlotte after the Carolina Panthers traded up and selected him with the 32nd and final pick of the first round of the NFL Draft. The Panthers had the No. 33 pick, but moved up one spot to swap places with the Buffalo Bills and snag Legette with the final Thursday selection, granting the team a fifth-year option on his rookie contract, a distinction only available for first-round picks.

Legette’s 1,255 receiving yards last season were the second-most by a Gamecock in a single-season ever, only trailing Alshon Jeffery’s mark in 2010. His 217 yards in the win over Jacksonville State were also the second-most for an individual game in program history, just 16 yards behind Pharoh Cooper’s program record in 2014.

For his career he totaled up 1,678 yards on 113 receptions with a dozen touchdowns, and all of his career-high totals came in his fifth and final season in 2023. He joined the program in 2019 while Will Muschamp was still at the helm and decided to stick around even after Shane Beamer’s staff took over, playing the first three seasons of the Beamer era and establishing himself as a team leader.

This is the second consecutive season a South Carolina wide receiver has been drafted after Jalen Brooks went to the Dallas Cowboys in the seventh round last season, and Legette is the first wide receiver to go in the top two rounds since Deebo Samuel went No. 36 overall to the San Francisco 49ers in 2019.

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