Scott Fowler: Panthers should bench receiver Xavier Legette, who needs a reset

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There is a problem plaguing the Carolina Panthers’ passing offense: the strange disappearance of starting wide receiver Xavier Legette.

Legette, the team’s first-round draft pick out of South Carolina in 2024, was supposed to take a leap forward in 2025. Instead, the player that most people call XL has come up XS for the Panthers through Weeks 1 and 2:

Fifteen targets.

Four catches.

Eight total yards.

To say Legette has struggled would be an understatement. But to say — as some Panthers fans are doing these days — that he should immediately be traded or is a complete draft bust is an over-exaggeration.

I propose a middle ground:

Bench Legette for a couple of games.

If you remember, this is exactly what the Panthers did — at exactly the same time in his career — with quarterback Bryce Young a year ago.

Young had just finished with Week 2 of his second season and had opened it with two horrid games. Panthers coach Dave Canales sat him down, let Young watch for a while and then returned him to the lineup as a starter after veteran Andy Dalton took the reins for five games.

Legette has just finished Week 2 of his second season and opened it with two horrid games. Not only has he gained only 8 total yards receiving, but he failed to execute a relatively simple toe-tap on what would have been about a 20-yard gain in Week 1 and appeared to be part of the disarray on a critical fourth-down play against Jacksonville that, if executed correctly, could have resulted in a touchdown.

So I’d bench him. Temporarily.

Let the receivers who are playing particularly well take most of the reps — Tetairoa McMillan, Hunter Renfrow and Brycen Tremayne (unfortunately, Jalen Coker is hurt and Adam Thielen traded). Let veteran David Moore get more snaps, too. Let Legette reset.

Legette’s tough stretch

Legette has been a joyous presence in the locker room and remains one of the most popular Panthers off the field. His unique accent (he’s from Mullins, S.C.) and passion for horses have endeared him to even casual fans. And when he’s playing his best, he makes tough catches in traffic and uses the size that provided the XL nickname (6-3, 227) to ward off defenders.

But it hasn’t been going well for some time.

Legette got thrown out of the first preseason game in the first quarter last month for an ill-advised fight. A video circulated widely on Monday showed him walking sl-o-o-o-wly back to the line when the Panthers had just completed a pass deep in the second quarter Sunday and were in a two-minute drill. In Week 2, Legette was only the second player in NFL history to have a game with negative yards on at least eight targets, according to Bleacher Report.

And when Legette is on the field, his lack of separation from defenders is noticeable. So often, he appears to be blanketed. If he doesn’t improve, he’s going to become a highlighted name on that list of highly-drafted Panther receivers who never worked out that longtime Carolina fans can’t get out of their heads (Jonathan Mingo, Terrace Marshall Jr., etc).

In a respectable rookie year, Legette did catch 49 passes for 497 yards and four touchdowns. But he’s also best-known in 2024 for dropping the pass that could have beaten eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia. He was picked No. 32 overall by the Panthers in 2024 (Ladd McConkey and Keon Coleman were both available at the time).

Also worth noting: In 18 NFL games, Legette has never had a 100-yard receiving game and in fact has never surpassed 70 yards.

McMillan, the Panthers’ star rookie, hit 100 yards in only second NFL game Sunday.

What Canales said about Legette

Legette wasn’t made available to reporters Monday. But I asked Canales during his media conference call if he would consider benching Legette Sunday, when the 0-2 Panthers play their first home game of the season against Atlanta.

Canales wasn’t hot on the idea.

“I believe in Xavier,” Canales said. “This is a guy that I truly believe in because of the way he’s wired, the way that he works at it, the way that he continues to train.”

Of Legette’s performance in the 27-22 loss to Arizona Sunday, Canales said: “He had a great week of practice. He played better (than Week 1). He had some opportunities on the field where the ball didn’t go his way. I tried to get him a few early touches. They didn’t amount to much, you know ... I’m going to continue to encourage him and be in his corner and push him to keep striving for that. Keep working on his chemistry with Bryce. Because he’s got the talent. And I think, at times, he can be hard on himself. He can be really critical of himself. And I want to make sure that he knows he’s supported.”

As for the slow-walk back to the huddle, Canales explained in general: “We want guys to show up and do their job with urgency.” The coach also said that both McMillan and Legette were “gassed” at times Sunday — the Panthers trailed the whole game and Young threw the ball a career-high 55 times.

All of that is well and good, and I don’t think Legette was sending any sort of message from his walk back to the huddle — I think he was legitimately tired and not totally aware of the situation.

But I do still think Legette would benefit from a personal timeout. Instead of playing him on 80% of the snaps, make it 30%. Let him earn his spot back in the starting lineup.

Bench Legette for now.

Something has got to change.

____