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Xavier Legette already impressing Panthers coaching staff

UVA BIO PICby:Mike Uva•05/15/24•

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Xavier Legette
Photo: Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers

There’s a reason why the Carolina Panthers traded up to select Xavier Legette in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft. But if there were any lingering questions about the move since the draft, some of those questions were answered this past weekend at Carolina’ rookie minicamp.

“At the combine, (I) got to see him there in person — foot-to-foot with him to size him up a little bit,” said Panthers head coach Dave Canales. “The way that he carries 225 (pounds) is pretty incredible. It’s just really well distributed in his body. It doesn’t look like there’s this really thick man. He’s just so proportionately built.”

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But as South Carolina fans witnessed last year, Legette doesn’t just look the role. He also backs it up.

“His movement skills. The way that he controls his body. The way that he gets in and out of breaks, it’s pretty special,” added Canales. “To see him out there moving around like he does, it’s impressive.”

Another thing that will only help Legette demonstrate those skills is getting comfortable with the playbook. Following South Carolina’s Pro Day, Legette shared that playing for three different offensive coordinators during his college career helped him during his interviews with NFL teams when he was asked to go up to the white board.

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“I feel like as long as I can get a good understanding of the playbook, that’s going to help me play fast,” said Legette. “I’m not really timid to try and figure out what the play is or anything because I study it well enough to know it.”

Learning the offense isn’t the only thing the Panthers will be looking from Legette. Over the weekend, Carolina also had the rookie working on gunner drills on special teams.

“Special teams is a premium for us,” said Canales. “Just making sure that Xavier has that starting point. He is such a natural athlete. Watching him take his first couple of steps, it was really cool.”

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Legette recently agreed to a four-year deal with the Panthers worth $12,357,176. The agreement, which is the highest deal by any Gamecock in this year’s draft class, came with a signing bonus of $5,807,036. When asked if he has any plans on what his first big purchase will be, Legette mentioned his late parents.

“I just want to remodel my mom and my dad’s house,” said Legette. “That’s the only thing that I want to do.”

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