Xavier Legette Has Bounced Back From a Slow Start.

Two games into the 2025 season, the noise was loud surrounding Panthers receiver Xavier Legette.

Carolina's record sat at 0-2 and Legette, a 2024 first-round draft pick, had just four receptions for eight yards. To make matters worse, Legette's opportunity to respond to his critics was saddled with a hamstring injury that cost him the next two games.

It wasn't until the Panthers' home date against the Dolphins that Legette returned to the lineup, but when he did, he found the end-zone to kick-start a 17-point comeback win, which tied the largest comeback in franchise history, and begin what's become a three-game winning streak.

Perhaps the finest moment of his young NFL career was at the New York Jets on Sunday, though.

Almost everything was a struggle offensively in the game. Carolina's run offense averaged just 3.5 yards per carry. Bryce Young went down with an ankle injury in the third quarter. The Panthers only produced 13 points the entire afternoon.

But the brightest spot of the day was Legette.

He had a career-best 92 yards on nine catches and scored the game's only touchdown. As if that wasn't enough, Legette sprung free downfield in the game's final moments and hauled in a clinching conversion from Andy Dalton in order to drain the remaining time on the clock.

Given this recent run of success for Legette, who led the Panthers in receptions as a rookie, the Panthers seem to have hit on both receivers they selected in the first round the last two years. Rookie Tetairoa McMillan currently ranks 20th in receiving yards and third among rookies.

This is certainly a better result for Carolina than the previous two times it took a receiver during the first two rounds of the draft. 

In 2021, Terrace Marshall Jr was selected in the second round. Since then, he's bounced around to two different teams (Raiders, Eagles) and has 67 career catches and one touchdown. Two years later, Jonathan Mingo was taken 39th overall, but was traded to Dallas last season. He has 60 career receptions and no touchdowns in three seasons.