Who Should I Start? DeAndre Hopkins or Xavier Legette

Friday, July 25, 3:38 PM

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (undisclosed) was back in action on Friday after missing the team's Thursday practice with an undisclosed ailment, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said previously that Hopkins was held out as a precaution, and that appears to be the truth. The 33-year-old Hopkins is likely someone who Baltimore will be judicious with in terms of practice workload anyway, so a single-day absence early in camp shouldn't be considered highly worrisome. Hopkins recorded 56 catches for 610 yards and five touchdowns in 16 games split between the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs in 2024. He's more of a supporting piece at this point in his career, but he'll be in the mix with Rashod Bateman as a secondary target option at receiver for Baltimore behind Zay Flowers. The Ravens also have talented tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely, so Hopkins could be looking at an even further reduced workload from what he saw last season.

Saturday, August 9, 3:36 PM

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette was ejected from Friday's preseason game against the Cleveland Browns after a first-quarter altercation. The 24-year-old did not record any catches or targets before being thrown out of the 30-10 loss. Legette was a first-round pick in last year's draft, with a rookie stat line of 49-49-4 on 84 targets. Panthers head coach Dave Canales acknowledged that while the play was physical, Legette's response was a liability. "You can't do that... both guys got ejected, rightfully so," Canales said, per Darin Gantt of panthers.com. The incident occurred while Legette was downfield blocking and got tangled up with Browns cornerback Rayshawn Mitchell. RotoBaller projects Legette as WR69 with a slight uptick in catches, yards, and TDs this season. He is most likely to be behind rookie stud Tetairoa McMillan and veteran Adam Thielen in targets. Still, he could emerge as an upside WR4/5 if anything happens to Thielen as the season progresses.