Know you Chiefs draft crush, part 7: Xavier Legette
Breaking down the tape of one of the draft's biggest question marks.
In this year’s “know your draft crush” series, I’m once again examining various wide receivers the Chiefs could target in early rounds of the draft. Fortunately, the 2024 draft is packed with good WR prospects. In an attempt to figure out who would be the best fit in Kansas City, I’m looking at as many as possible, breaking down the film to look at the same traits for each player: Speed/acceleration/agility, releases, route running, hands/catch point work, YAC/playmaking, and an overall takeaway. Here are the guys we’ve looked at so far:
Methodology and Adonai Mitchell (UNLOCKED)
Nobody wants to make the D.K. Metcalf mistake again.
If you’ll recall, Metcalf blew up the combine with his incredibly intimidating combination of size and speed (not to mention being a beyond-ripped athletic freak, but I digress). Multiple teams (including the Chiefs) still passed on him due to concerns about his short-area agility as well as his lack of college production. Fast forward to today, and he’s developed into one of the best deep threats in the game. And no NFL GM wants to be the guy who passes by someone who is bigger and faster than everyone else only to look foolish later.
So then the question becomes… is Xavier Legette D.K Metcalf all over again, or something else?
The big WR (he’s not as tall as Metcalf at “only” 6’1”, but weighs in at 221 pounds) is a thick, chiseled human who is close to the “built like a RB” sort of muscular, while still running like a deer with the ball in his hands. The NFL (and draft Twitter) appears to not know what to do with Legette because before this year, he wasn’t considered close to a first round pick (or perhaps even draftable). Now, following the rarely seen 5th-year breakout (71 catches for 1,200+ yards and 7 TD’s), teams have to decide what to do with Legette as he enters the league. A stellar performance at the combine only served to further the hype.
But what does Legette’s tape show? Metcalf was famously a traits-based evaluation, and trying to extrapolate what things will look like at the next level is always tough. But with a few games against higher-level competition, it makes sense to try and figure out if Legette is the guy who blew up college football last season (there are legitimate reasons he may have struggled before 2023) or the guy who made minimal impact previously. And so he’s up next in the “know your Chiefs draft crush” series.
In case you don’t recall, here’s the list of receivers I’m HOPING on being able to sift through before the draft. I’ve crossed out the ones we’ve done (including Legette). As you can see, I’ve got a lot of work to do.
Brian Thomas Jr, Ladd McConkey, Troy Franklin, Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Keon Coleman, Xavier Legette, Ja’Lynn Polk, Javon Baker, Malik Washington, Ricky Pearsall, Roman Wilson, Devontez Walker, Jalen McMillan, Malachi Corley, Jarami Thrash, Jermaine Burton, and Brenden Rice
Let’s talk Legette’s film, where he wins/loses, and how he could fit with the Chiefs.
Xavier Legette - South Carolina
Relevant measurements - 6’1”, 221 pounds
Games reviewed - Clemson, Florida, Georgia
(NOTE - Most of the video clips I’ll use will be to highlight positive traits, because they’re more fun to watch. But that doesn’t make the negative traits for a prospect any less real… it just means I like to show the fun things!)
-Speed / acceleration / agility-
The first thing to get out of the way is that yes, Legette has borderline mind-melting top speed. It’s legitimately startling once he gets moving, and you see it in some of his most viral highlights. It also shows up in his ability to run away from defenders down the field, something he did multiple times int he 3 games I reviewed.
For right now, try to ignore the work he does at the catch point (we’ll talk about that later, I swear) and just focus on the speed. Once Legette gets going he’s got a 6th gear that you could put next to almost anyone else in the draft (and maybe the NFL). He takes big strides that chew up cushions and send him flying past deep defenders who underestimated how quickly he would get on top of them. Had the QB led him here it’s likely a touchdown given how he was able to run by the deep help.