Xavier Legette the next first rounder for the Gamecocks?
After a big final season at South Carolina, Xavier Legette has continued to raise his professional stock.
The latest mock draft by Ryan Wilson of CBSSports.com has Legette being selected in the first round, pick number 32, by the Baltimore Ravens.
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Legette put up big numbers as a senior in Columbia this season, catching 71 passes for 1,255 yards and 7 touchdowns.
The Mullins (South Carolina) native ended up vastly outplaying his ranking out of high school. As a member of the 2019 recruiting class, he was rated by the On3 Industry Ranking -a weighted average of all four major recruiting services – as a three-star prospect and the number 109 receiver prospect in the country.
“One thing that stands out to me beyond just the ability on the field, it’s just he’s a great teammate, works hard and just how intelligent he is from a football standpoint, like he just, he gets it and things just make sense to him,” USC head coach Shane Beamer said of Legette earlier in the 2023 campaign.
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The last first-round selection for South Carolina came in 2021 when cornerback Jaycee Horn went number 8 overall to the Carolina Panthers.
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Regardless of whether or not Legette ultimately moves into first round range, there is no doubt his stock is up substantially from where it was before the season. He should hear his name come off the board relatively early in April.
“No offensive prospect has helped himself more this fall than South Carolina’s Xavier Legette,” Jim Nagy, the director of the Senior Bowl, said in November. “Coming into the season, we saw him as a really good special teams player and kick returner, but he’s emerged as a true playmaker in the South Carolina offense. He’s 6-foot-1, 220-pounds, but he plays even bigger than that as we’ve seen in contested situations all season for the Gamecocks.”
The Gamecocks had a wide receiver drafted last year, as Jalen Brooks was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the seventh round.
A total of five USC football alumni were picked in last spring’s NFL Draft.
Legette was selected to the SEC’s all-conference team after the season, checking in as a second-team selection. He was also one of ten semifinalists for the Bilenikoff Award, which is given annually to the country’s top receiver.
