Panthers Have 'Full Faith' in Xavier Legette For No Apparent Reason

Through two full seasons, Xavier Legette has not recorded 100 total catches or 1,000 total yards. He has just seven touchdowns in 31 games. For comparison, rookie Tetairoa McMillan has over 1,000 yards and seven TDs in one season.

The Carolina Panthers traded up to get Legette, but even if they'd stayed put at 33, the wideout from South Carolina would not have remotely lived up to the billing. He is probably not long for Carolina, no matter what the team says.

Right now, a trade isn't imminent, but that's seemingly because the team still believes in him. Why they do is anyone's guess.

The Panthers should not have this much faith in Xavier Legette

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette (17) looks on before the game against the Los Angeles Rams | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Last offseason, the Panthers ultimately did not trade for DK Metcalf, a superstar wide receiver with connections to Dave Canales. They said it was partly because Xavier Legette, fresh off a 497-yard season, was Metcalf-esque.

After an even worse second season, the Panthers still believe in him. Per David Newton of ESPN, Canales said, "The thing I respect about Xavier is that through this process, all he's done is work. All he's done is just continue to try to find ways; 'How can I help?' He continued to block, and he continued to be available.''

To Legette's credit, he knows he's been bad. "All I can do is what I do,'' he said. "From a production standpoint, I don't even know what to say about that part. The mistakes that I make, they're critical mistakes in a sense, but at the same time I've just got to play better on the production part.''

Nevertheless, GM Dan Morgan went to bat for him earlier this offseason, saying fans are too impatient with players who don't develop right away.

"He's just made of the right stuff,'' Canales added. "I have full faith and confidence that Xavier will bounce back and have an excellent year next year."

It's really hard to see what the Panthers see. They are probably just trying to avoid a Buffalo Bills situation where the owner and GM are pinning a bad receiver on the coach and trying to say no one in the building even wanted to draft him.

But there's a good chance both Morgan and Canales believe what they say. The question is why?

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