The New York Giants will aim to add playmaking talent to their offense in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft. While taking a blue-chip wide receiver prospect in the first round is a strong possibility, the G-Men could opt to take a quarterback in Round 1 and circle back for a playmaker on day two.
Of the wide receiver prospects who will be available in the second round or later, South Carolina’s Xavier Legette stands out as a potential target for the Giants. The Giants were recently listed as a potential fit for the physical wideout.
Giants named a potential fit for South Carolina WR Xavier Legette
Bleacher Report’s Derrik Klassen listed the Giants as one of three potential fits for Legette (h/t Heavy.com):
“Big man run fast,” Klassen begn. “Sometimes it’s that simple. That’s certainly the gist of things with Xavier Legette. A fifth-year breakout, he brings outrageous speed and explosion for a 6’1″, 221-pounder. That athleticism shows up best when he has the ball in his hands. Once he’s a ball-carrier, he turns into a hulking mass of man barrelling through defenses with serious speed. Legette is a human Bullet Bill.”
As Klassen describes, Legette is an impressive athlete for a man his size. He reached a top speed of 22.3 mph on a 76-yard catch-and-run touchdown versus Mississippi State last season:
Drafting Legette would give the Giants a physical outside receiving presence that’s currently absent from their lineup. Their current trio of WRs Darius Slayton, Wan’Dale Robinson, and Jalin Hyatt all bring different skill sets to the offense, but none quite like that of Legette.
Slayton and Hyatt are both perimeter receivers who can stretch the field vertically, but they are not the physical specimens that Legette is. Robinson is more of an underneath, slot option. Legette has the strength, technique, and run-after-the-catch ability to be a threat underneath and over the top.
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What could Legette bring to the Giants’ offense?
In 2023, Legette had his breakout campaign, totaling 71 receptions for 1,255 yards and seven touchdowns. He scored a 9.88 relative athletic score (RAS) at this year’s combine after running a 4.29s 40-yard dash, putting up 24 reps on the bench, and posting a 40-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-six-inch broad jump. His RAS ranks 38 out of 3,188 wide receiver prospects from 1987 to 2024.
It took Legette five years to finally have that breakout season, which is a cause for concern for some scouts and analysts. However, Brett Kollman of the Bootleg Football Podcast broke down perfectly why Legette’s late bloom is something to admire, rather than to criticize.
The Giants hold the No. 47 overall pick in the second round and the No. 70 overall pick in the third round of this year’s draft. Legette could be an option with the earlier of those two picks, but in such a stacked wide receiver draft class, it’s possible he falls into Round 3 and becomes a target with pick No. 70.
Legette has been compared to NFL wide receivers such as A.J. Brown, DK Metcalf, and Deebo Samuel — all Pro Bowl and All-Pro talents. If Legette can develop properly at the next level, his similar athletic profile could allow him to have a similar impact in the NFL. The Giants could use some physicality on offense and drafting Legette would give them a heavy dosage of physical nature mixed with elite athleticism in their receiving corps.