Xavier

Legette

Legette is WR3 on the Panthers’ pass-catching hierarchy, tying TE Mitchell Evans for fourth on the team in targets. He had an early drop and made his only catch of the game in the two-minute drill at the end of the first half. Legette should remain off fantasy radars moving forward.

Legette was very briefly involved on a few plays during the Panthers’ fourth drive, producing a big gain on a corner route after WR Tetairoa McMillan fell over, which may have jumbled the defensive backs’ coverage assignments. Panthers QB Bryce Young targeted Legette again shortly thereafter, but the throw was late and nearly resulted in an interception. Legette is a zero-floor FLEX against the Buccaneers next week.

Legette failed to make good on his coach’s intimation of more targets earlier in the week, largely caused by the offense’s general inability to move the football consistently against the 49ers. He continues to operate as the clear WR2 behind standout rookie Tetairoa McMillan, a role that isn’t likely to return consistent fantasy production considering the run-leaning nature of Dave Canales’ offense. That doesn’t change ahead of a Week 13 clash with the Rams.

That places Legette in line to play on Monday Night Football against the 49ers. Legette managed just 55% of the offensive snaps while dealing with a hip injury in Week 11 but could return to a more robust role against the injury-riddled San Francisco defense. Fantasy managers in a bind due to bye weeks can comfortably start the second-year receiver as a viable FLEX option.

Legette has a little more helium than usual this week as a FLEX play considering Canales told reporters on Monday that there’s a “focused effort” to get him more targets. Playing against an injury-ravaged 49ers defense doesn’t hurt, either. It’s worth considering in 14-team leagues, certainly.

Well, hard to argue with the results after a 4/83/1 line on eight targets against the Falcons helped lead to a 30-points explosion, but a bit of a weird flex since Legette has been useless for most of the fantasy season. This does give Legette some FLEX appeal in Week 12 against the 49ers, but it also comes with the warning that he exited Sunday’s game with a hip injury that bears monitoring this week.

Legette got things going in the second half with a 36-yard touchdown catch at the top of the third quarter. He got some separation on his defender with a nifty jab-step and fully extended to bring in a well-thrown heave from Bryce Young. Legette has two games with 80 yards in his career. Both of them have come in his past five appearances. He also found the end zone in both of those contests. Legette left the game late with a hip issue and did not return, though there wasn’t much time left in the contest when he exited. His status will be worth monitoring when the Panthers drop their first injury report of the week.

Panthers beat writer David Newton wrote shortly after practice that head coach Dave Canales “told reporters there is concern after the injury popped up today.” Late-week injuries are never a good sign for a player’s availability come Sunday, and the fact that Canales is suggesting there could be something to be concerned about makes this even worse. We won’t press the panic button until there’s reason to do so, but fantasy managers counting on McMillan in Week 10 should have a backup plan in place in the event he ends up being ruled out. If McMillan did miss Sunday’s game, Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker could both be in line to see increased workloads.

Legette got drilled by a Green Bay safety Xavier McKinney on his only catch of the day. He held onto the ball but took a while to get up and off the field. He was checked for a concussion and returned later in the game. Legette erupted with a 9/92/1 line versus the Jets three weeks ago. He has three catches for 39 scoreless yards over the past two weeks combined. Fantasy managers can send him back to the waiver wire on this week’s run.

Legette was never really at risk of missing Week 9’s game against the Packers after popping up with an illness on Thursday’s injury report. Legette has been an unreliable producer all season and saw one less target than Jalen Coker in last week’s blowout loss to the Bills. Legette can be left off Week 9 fantasy rosters.