Panthers all-time leading WR Steve Smith Sr. grades Xavier Legette's rookie season
So, what does the Carolina Panthers' all-time leading receiver think about the first season of the team's first-round wideout?
Steve Smith Sr. teamed up with Underdog Network colleague James Palmer to review and grade the rookie campaign of Xavier Legette. And you can't talk about Legette's year without addressing his drops.
'I think he's lost a little bit of his confidence in catching the football because of the drops,' Smith Sr. stated. 'And you can see it sometimes in how he's attacking the football. He's attacking the football with his whole body, almost grasping at the football. And I know that because I too had struggled with confidence.
'Depending on the defender, depending on what happened during week, what's going on with the weather—there's a ton of things that impact your confidence that has nothing to do with a man's heart. It has to do, sometimes, with just being a human being.'
Two of Legette's seven drops came in two big games—one against the then-reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the other against the current Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. The latter, in fact, wiped out what would have been a game-tying touchdown in the final minute of the game.
Smith Sr., however, offered an encouraging outlook for the soon-to-be second-year pass catcher.
'Based off of injuries, based off of what he did in college, you know and you can see that he's a young man that's learning, getting his feet wet in the National Football League, and I think he has a tremendous upside,' added Smith Sr., who gave Legette an overall 'C' grade.
Legette finished up with 49 receptions for 497 yards and four touchdowns.
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