First-round Gamecock! South Carolina’s Xavier Legette selected on NFL Draft’s Day 1

For so many, the introduction to Xavier Legette as an NFL prospect was his voice.

After USC’s Pro Day, a social media clip went viral of Legette speaking, his thick Southern twang emphasizing vowels through a long drawl. A video posted on X conjured up over 4 million views, folks in awe of the country accent.

Said one user on X: “I don’t know what I expected Xavier Legette to sound like… But it was NOT that.”

The accent forced folks to learn about Legette. About his hometown of Mullins, South Carolina (population 5,029). About the slow start to his South Carolina football career, spending his first four years as a mere afterthought who had under 450 career receiving yards. About his other-worldly 2023 campaign, where he broke out as one of the SEC’s best pass-catchers, reeling in 71 balls for 1,255 yards and seven scores.

They learned that Legette didn’t talk a whole lot in Columbia. That he was the rare man-of-few-words receiver who just worked and worked and worked. The guy who struggled to let his injuries completely heal before sneaking in the practice rotation to get reps.

And on Thursday, they learned that Legette is a Carolina Panther. After almost four hours sitting nervously inside a banquet hall in Mullins, surrounded by family and friends, the Panthers finally rang.

“It was a whole lot of joy,” Legette said.

The Panthers, Legette’s hometown franchise, selected him in the NFL Draft, snagging him at the end of the first round (No. 32) after trading up one spot from the top of the second. It’s just the third time a South Carolina wide receiver has gone in the first round — Sterling Sharpe (Green Bay Packers) went No. 7 overall in 1988, and Troy Williamson (Minnesota Vikings) was also picked seventh in 2005.

“He’s been through a lot of adversity, but it’s paid off to be a first-round draft pick,” said Mullins assistant football coach Donald Brown. “It’s a real blessing (to be so close). But we don’t wanna distract him from working ... He doesn’t want this to be a quick, little stint in the NFL.”

There were a few minutes between when Legette received the phone call and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell went to the podium and said Legette’s name. He walked back to his table with a big grin on his face, almost waiting for someone to ask what just happened.

“That’s the one,” he hollered.

“Carolina?” Someone asked.

“They (gonna) grab me,” he responded, as nonchalantly as someone would say their Uber arrived. “They just called me.”

When the announcement officially blared over the television, the room erupted. Legette bent down to hug his grandmother, Linda Neal.

“Wherever he had been chosen, I would’ve been happy for him, but it does (help) because it’s closer,” she told The State. “I knew he was good and capable. But sometimes people are good and capable and they go overlooked.”

Thought of as a mid-round pick following the season, the 6-foot-1, 221-pound Legette has impressed evaluators over the past few months, beginning at the Senior Bowl.

“What makes @GamecockFB WR Xavier Legette different from vast majority of receivers in this class is his combo of size+suddenness,” wrote Senior Bowl Director Jim Nagy on X. “Legette’s (special teams) tape, toughness, & work ethic are also why NFL is higher on him than media.”

A few weeks later at the NFL Scouting Combine, Legette showed off his speed with a 4.39-second 40-yard dash that put him in the top-third of all wide receivers. While that was great, the analytics now in college football had long proved that, when the pads are on, almost no one is faster than Legette.

During the Gamecocks’ win over Mississippi State in late September, Legette caught a short slant pass from quarterback Spencer Rattler and took it 76 yards to the house. As he was blowing past defenders, he reached a top speed of 22.3 mph. How fast is that? According to The Athletic, no ball-carrier in college football or the NFL reached a greater speed last season.

He was again solid at South Carolina’s Pro Day. And once you got past the accent, it was striking how calm Legette was. He conveyed this sense of confidence that he was ready for the NFL, basically saying that as long as he puts in the work, production will come.

“I don’t get nervous. I’m past that stage in this game,” he said. “I don’t get nervous anymore. I just came here to do my work.”

Legette is one of those rare athletes who genuinely seems to enjoy the process more than the results.

In postgame press conferences, he’d often sit beside Rattler with the look that he’d rather eat soap then get asked about himself. To Legette, it seemed like asking questions about a game Saturday was silly. Because the answer was always what happened Monday through Friday.

“He made himself into the player that he is,” coach Shane Beamer said of Legette. “It’s a great example for all of our players. When you work really really hard, when you do things right on and off the field and treat people the right way, good things happen.”

And if you have the talent, too, you can make yourself a first-round pick.

USC receivers drafted by round, last 20 years:

First round

2005: Troy Williamson (Vikings), 7th overall

2024: Xavier Legette (Panthers), 32nd overall

Second round

2019: Deebo Samuel (49ers), 36th overall

2007: Sidney Rice (Vikings), 44th overall

2012: Alshon Jeffery (Bears), 45th overall

Third round

2020: Bryan Edwards (Raiders), 81st overall

Fourth round

2013: Ace Sanders (Jaguars), 101st overall

2014: Bruce Ellington (49ers), 106th overall

2016: Pharoh Cooper (Rams), 117th overall

Fifth round

2009: Kenny McKinley (Broncos), 141st overall

Sixth round

2021: Shi Smith (Panthers), 204th overall

Seventh round

2023: Jalen Brooks (Cowboys), 244th overall