Time the pump the brakes on the criticism.
Some Carolina Panthers fans have been upset with rookie wide received Xavier Legette this week.
He has been guilty of some drops this season on some very catchable passes. But the fanbase hit boiling point this week after his latest crucial drop at the end of the game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
With 00:51 left on the clock in the final quarter, and the Panthers trailing 22-16, Bryce Young stepped back and delivered a 32-yard dart. The ball sailed over the heads of Eagles secondary standouts C.J. Garner Johnson and Darius Slay Jr. right into the arms of Legette at the goal line.
While fans cheered a game tying touchdown – myself included – officials ruled it an incomplete pass. The replay was clear. As Legette reached out to haul in the pass, the ball slipped between his arms and touched the ground before he gained control.
Being selected 32nd overall in the first-round of 2024 draft from South Carolina, Legette was the seventh wide receiver taken out of 35 in total.
He is currently seventh on the list of rookie receivers for receiving yards, sixth in targets and receptions and tied third in touchdowns – ahead of two receivers taken in the top 10 picks of the draft. He leads the Panthers in targets, receptions, yards and touchdowns.
Legette sits fourth on the team for both average yards per reception and receiving yards per game behind Adam Thielen, Diontae Johnson and Jalen Coker.
But what about drops?
Xavier Legette currently has a 15.2% drop rate in the league this season.
Here are some other rookies and veteran receivers that have had a worse drop rate than Legette:
- Amari Cooper, the fourth overall draft pick of the Oakland Raiders from Alabama in 2015, had a 20% drop rate in his rookie season.
- Courtland Sutton, 40th overall draft pick by the Denver Broncos in 2018, had a drop rate of 17.6%.
- Jerry Jeudy, another first round draft pick from Alabama, 15th overall to the Denver Broncos in 2020, finished his rookie year with an 18.8% drop rate.
- Sterling Shepard, an eight-year veteran of the New York Giants, in 2023 dropped 23.1% of his targets.
- Rashod Bateman was a second-year receiver in 2022 after being selected in the first round of the 2021 draft, he dropped 25%.
- Alshon Jeffery, a former South Carolina star like Legette, dropped 25% is his targets 2020 as a nine-year veteran.
The big-bodied speedster that had 1,255 yards and seven touchdowns in his final year in college still has a lot of football left to play. It is worth noting that earlier this week it was announced that he will likely undergo surgery to repair ligament damage in his left wrist dating back to 2021.
Can we please stop writing off young talented players in their rookie year?! Take a look at Bryce Young.
