Legette saw 84 targets as a rookie in 2024, collecting 49 receptions for 497 yards and four touchdowns. It wasn’t an explosion onto the scene, but it laid a foundation to build on moving forward.
Instead, the big-bodied wideout saw his numbers decline across the board during the 2025 campaign. His targets fell to 64, which he turned into 363 yards and three scores on 35 catches. He managed only two outings with over 40 receiving yards, as McMillan shined with 70 receptions for 1,014 yards and seven TDs.
After playing 79.7% of Carolina’s offensive snaps through his first six games (with three contests over 80%), Legette eclipsed 70% of snaps in a game just one more time the rest of the way. His decrease in playing time coincided with wideout Jalen Coker returning from injury in Week 7 and gradually getting back up to speed.
Legette shrugged off the notion that he tumbled down the depth chart last year, but he also expressed a willingness to do whatever the team requires.
“I didn’t really lose my starting job,” Legette said. “They just kind of removed me from one personnel (package). I was still starting at 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end). But I mean, I’m a team player. If they feel like that’s what it takes for us to be in a position to win, then I’ll do it.”
Legette remains a member of Carolina’s big three ahead of training camp. However, McMillan established himself as a franchise cornerstone, and Coker, who had nine catches for 134 yards and a touchdown in the Wild Card Round to Legette’s one catch for eight yards, just signed a three-year, $35 million contract extension. Those two are entrenched in the team’s future. Free-agent signee John Metchie III flashed a bit of potential with the New York Jets last year, and 2026 third-round rookie Chris Brazzell II could also be nipping at Legette’s heels for opportunities.
The pressure is on for Legette, both to individually prove himself before Carolina must decide whether to exercise his fifth-year option next offseason and to help the Panthers defend their first NFC South crown in a decade.
Luckily for Legette, under pressure is where he believes he does his best work.
“I feel like that I can always hold that pressure whenever the pressure is on me,” he said. “But I kind of just put myself in a mindset of, ‘It’s do or die.’ And that kind of helps me do the things I need to do, and keep that pressure on myself to never take my foot off the gas.”
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