Panthers Select Xavier Legette WR - Pick 32, Round 1

[CPF4LIFE]

This guy can get open, he can also make catches with guys draped on him. Bryce just has to throw with anticipation and accuracy like most nfl qbs do. He cannot be holding the ball forever to make a decision.

 

[LinvilleGorge]

2 minutes ago, rayzor said:

a lot might not like his unproven game, but all the intangibles points to someone you're proud to have as part of the team and who fits not just the "dawg" mindset, but the "keep pounding" persona.

Here's the thing for me. first, i've said all along that there's this good size group of 8-10 WRs from which i would have been really happy with and that i kind of just lumped in together because on the whole i didn't see much separation between. All of them brought something different to their game and all of them would bring something to the panthers that we were lacking, especially in the long term. 

Leggette is special, though, not just because of his story (even though that's part of it). What has been seen through his ball playing career is someone that had been held back in a lot of ways from getting a chance to really show what he was capable of doing or from growing into what he could become. he kept with it, though. instead of bailing on the situation like a lot of others understandably are, he stuck around and kept making the most of every opportunity he was given, playing within whatever role he was told to take on. and he proved himself within whatever parameters he was put in. 

why didn't he do in previous years what he did last year? because he was told to take on another role and play in other situations. why? because poo happens. sometimes you've got a bad QB, sometimes you've got bad coaches. sometimes both. 

on top of all that, though (and this is the best part for me), the guy wanted to be here. i mean he REALLY wanted to be here. He wants to be a panther. it means something to him. and he's going to be surrounded by some big brothers that he probably needs. A guy that knows us and still wants to be here? oh absolutely yes.

also, i doubt that Bryce's dad vote for XL to be the guy on that poll was something that he came to all on his own. it probably came from talking to his son about what and who he would want to have here helping out in the passing game. We need Bryce to work out. For that to happen, he's got to have a go to WR that he just feels comfortable with, connects to, and who will be here for a long time. In a lot of ways it seems like Bryce and Xavier couldn't be more different, but i think it would be easy to develop a lot of chemistry between the two of them. 

Xavier wants to be here and i think Bryce wants him to be here. i think it can work.

Bryce stumped hard for Mingo too.

[mrcompletely11]

1 minute ago, rayzor said:

why didn't he do in previous years what he did last year? because he was told to take on another role and play in other situations. why? because poo happens. sometimes you've got a bad QB, sometimes you've got bad coaches. sometimes both. 

 

That just seems like  a level of coping.  If he could do what he did in his 5th season earlier then it would have come out.  Coaches dont intentionally hide their talented players especially in college.   Just like with bryce, I wasnt happy with the trade or the pick but he is on our team now so we have to pull for them but goddamn sometimes this franchise cannot get out of its own way.

[strato]

5 minutes ago, Navy_football said:

Doesn't that fear of getting beat on 1v1s on the outside make the defense play different. As much as I've heard huddlers say defenders weren't afraid of BY's arm, I think it was more of the WRs speed, tracking, and ability to win at the point. If he goes out there and snags a jump ball or two 40+ yards downfield, you'll magically see defenses respect BY's too weak arm a little more. That'll open things up underneath where the route runners and TEs usually live. 

Absolutely the deep ball opens it all up. I definitely agree that the defense has to fear the vertical game enough to honor it.

I do not definitely agree that we have a QB that poses much of a vertical threat.

 If he is actually able to launch a ball 55 yards it will probably be a total rainbow. Like Wilson. Okay. Whatever. You have to get guys that can do what those WRs did for Wilson.  And I didn’t think any of those guys that I remember as being like, top WRs. I thought they were pretty average for NFL WRs. Which is a positive in terms of can we get that going here.

Legette is a guy that can win the jump when he has to come back to a downfield throw. Yes. 

I really just was so confused watching this offense last season, early on. It looked Nothing like what I expected and you heard what I thought about that. Why that was. 

I have hopes we will see more of what I expected to see last year, stuff designed around and tailored to the QB’s abilities.

 

[rayzor]

10 minutes ago, Navy_football said:

For the record, I really wanted Ladd McConkey. I think he's a Thielen 3.0. Not 2.0, but 3.0. 

But I can see their reasoning for going with XL. Schematically it makes more sense. But you WILL have to replace what Thielen and Johnson do too. And that day will likely come sooner rather than later. It's a true testament to Thielen's toughness that he caught 100 balls for 1000 yards at his age with no real threats to open things underneath for him. But you can't think he won't get injured at his age at that tick. Father time always wins. 

i had two dreams last night. one in which we drafted McConkey with the 39 pick and the other time we drafted Malik Washington in the 3rd or 4th. Both seemed real. The McConkey one i think had me in tears in my dream. But both i thought were great picks because they complemented what Xavier does. 

i think we really should be interested in getting someone like that, if not this year then next. 

[rayzor]

Just now, mrcompletely11 said:

That just seems like  a level of coping.  If he could do what he did in his 5th season earlier then it would have come out.  Coaches dont intentionally hide their talented players especially in college.   Just like with bryce, I wasnt happy with the trade or the pick but he is on our team now so we have to pull for them but goddamn sometimes this franchise cannot get out of its own way.

or it sounds like what happened.

[LinvilleGorge]

21 minutes ago, Navy_football said:

Doesn't that fear of getting beat on 1v1s on the outside make the defense play different. As much as I've heard huddlers say defenders weren't afraid of BY's arm, I think it was more of the WRs speed, tracking, and ability to win at the point. If he goes out there and snags a jump ball or two 40+ yards downfield, you'll magically see defenses respect BY's too weak arm a little more. That'll open things up underneath where the route runners and TEs usually live. 

When we did have open receivers downfield and Bryce saw them it usually looked like this

https://www.nfl.com/videos/bryce-young-misses-golden-opportunity-for-45-yard-td-pass-to-mingo

 

[Jackie Lee]

5 yard slants specifically lol

 

[rayzor]

1 minute ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Bryce stumped hard for Mingo too.

with what clout? i mean the guy had just gotten drafted himself. 

but you can't blame a QB for wanting a type of WR to help out...the big WR who can make plays happen and that you feel good throwing it up to confident that he would help you out? 

[rayzor]

Just now, Jackie Lee said:

5 yard slants specifically lol

 

he fits what we need. and what we need is no secret. 

[mrcompletely11]

3 minutes ago, rayzor said:

or it sounds like what happened.

Not particularly doubting you here and I dont follow USC football but you got a link talking about him being misused or whatever?  Because all of the various draft profiles about him mainly just he is a late bloomer due to the covid year.

 

here is a sample but they all pretty much read like this.  Here is is rated the 81 overall prospect

Legette is still raw and may fit best with a creative offensive coordinator who will scheme him touches. He is not a natural separator early in his routes; he’s shown the ability to use his big frame to separate late and win at the catch point, but he needs work as a route runner to separate quickly from savvy defenders. Legette played quarterback as a high school senior, but his slow development arc is a concern; he’s a one-year wonder and basically did nothing his first four seasons in college (with his previous best season being 2022, when he caught 18 passes for 167 yards and three scores).

[LinvilleGorge]

2 minutes ago, rayzor said:

with what clout? i mean the guy had just gotten drafted himself. 

but you can't blame a QB for wanting a type of WR to help out...the big WR who can make plays happen and that you feel good throwing it up to confident that he would help you out? 

With the clout of being the guy that they traded the franchise to get.

Oh man, are we really going to rehash the whole "twin towers" KB/Funchess talking point again?

Give me guys who can get OPEN. Open receivers have a much larger "catch radius" than a blanketed bigger guy.

[Navy_football]

6 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

When we did have open receivers downfield and Bryce saw them it usually looked like this

https://www.nfl.com/videos/bryce-young-misses-golden-opportunity-for-45-yard-td-pass-to-mingo

 

Come on LG. I could pull a bunch of those for every QB in the NFL. Even the second QB picked in last year's draft. Rookie of the year. Pro bowler. Second coming...

Bryce's problem is that he didn't throw enough of those. He definitely needs to take more shots downfield. 

[*FreeFua*]