Legette saw 84 targets as a rookie in 2024, collecting 49 receptions for 497 yards and four touchdowns. It wasn’t an explosion on the scene, but it laid the groundwork for continued development.
Instead, the hulking outfielder saw his numbers drop across the board in the 2025 campaign. His mark dropped to 64, which he turned into 363 yards and three scores on 35 catches. He managed just two trips 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 surrendered 70% of the shots per game just one more time the rest of the way. His decrease in playing time coincided with Jalen Coker’s return from injury in Week 7 and his gradual return to action.
Legette shrugged off the notion that he fell down the depth chart last year, but he also expressed a willingness to do whatever the team demands.
“I didn’t really lose the starting job,” Legette said. “They just kind of removed me from one man (package). I was still starting 11 (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, I’ll do it.”
Legette remains a member of Carolina’s big three before 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 get Legette eight yards, just signed a three-year, $35 million contract extension. The two are entrenched in the team’s future. Free agent John Metchie III showed some potential with the New York Jets last year, and 2026 third-round pick Chris Brazzell II could also be chasing Legette for opportunities.
The pressure is on Legette, both to prove himself individually before Carolina has to decide whether to exercise his fifth-year option next season and to help the Panthers defend their first NFC South crown in a decade.
Fortunately for Legette, pressure is where he believes he’s doing his best.
“I feel like I can always keep that pressure when the pressure is on me,” he said. “But I just put myself in the mindset of, ‘It’s do or die.’ And that helps me do the things I need to do and keep the pressure on myself to never take my foot off the gas.”