Prospect Profile: Xavier Legette, WR, South Carolina

Context

Plays mostly X, in the slot but also ran some at Z, out of the backfield and in motion

Before the Catch

Needs far more variety in his release package when facing press either with or without a jam. He does have an effective speed release due to his speed and explosion, and while it was enough for most competition in college, he will need to develop and refine other releases with his footwork. He has the play strength to be effective against a jam but he lacks technique and refined moves with his hands to release from press with a jam. When facing off or bail coverage, he’s a tough cover. He can attack leverage and gets into blind spots as well as his long strides closing cushion remarkably quickly. He can work off this well into shorter routes like hitches, pivots and slants. He is able to drop his weight well for his size and snap his face out of the break on hard-angle breaks. This is similarly true on deeper comebacks where he has an excellent brake step from full speed. On slants he can use his athleticism to separate after the break-point and then deploy his catch point skills to make the slant against off coverage a lay-up at times.

On speed cuts on out routes he does not make the transition quickly enough and the deficiency he has in his hip mobility shows up. His limited hip mobility also allows the better processing defenders to read his intentions. On vertical cuts he cheats due to his lack of hip mobility and stems in the direction of the break, leading DBs to stay in phase on routes where he can be most dangerous. When executing a bam step he has a good head fake and elbow jam to help him turn his hips but he negates the attempted technique because of the stem. He does show that he does this with purpose as you can see him fake a go route before making the break in some instances but this is rare so he doesn’t often keep the DB guessing.

He works hard on all his routes to use technique to minimize the challenge he has with hip mobility and therefore take advantage of his linear athleticism and play strength. He will defeat even physical DBs at the break-point with play strength & aggression, breaking through defenders to stay on his route path. When facing underneath zone coverage he is not as adept as you would like at finding the soft spots in the Zone and can sometimes drift towards defenders. His speed out of every break is frightening as he can eat up ground.

The Catch and after the Catch

He attacks all targets with the correct hand position except balls thrown low and outside his frame when running perpendicular to the line of scrimmage. On all other targets he brings his hands together early and has late hands with outstanding body control for high degree of difficulty catches above his head and close to the sideline. He will contest catches at the break point and competes to win 50/50 balls, coming down with more than his fair share. He tracks the ball well downfield and makes solid catches outside his frame and over his shoulder. He gains YAC with scary speed and makes defenders look silly with the angles they take to get him. He can also win with play strength, shrugging off would-be tacklers.

SUMMARY
Size and speed but has more refinement in the skills of playing the position than just a H-W-S guy normally would. Needs more variety in his release package and salesmanship in routes.

PRODUCTION
SR: 97 Tgts, 71 Recs, 1255 Rec Yards (17.7 Ave), 7 Rec TDs
JR: 29 Tgts, 18 Recs, 167 Rec Yards (9.3 Ave), 3 Rec TDs
INJURY: Missed time in 2021 due to motorcycle accident

RAVENS FIT
Athleticism 4
Intelligence 3
Versatility 4
Grit 4
Scheme 5