South Carolina Football: Two Gamecocks make top-100 NFL Draft board

South Carolina football stars Spencer Rattler and Xavier Legette combined for one of the most prolific quarterback-receiver seasons in Gamecock history during the 2023 season.

Rattler set a new season record for completion percentage (and the career record) while putting up the 3rd-most passing yards in a season (3186 yards) of any Gamecock signal-caller. He accomplished this despite playing behind one of the worst offensive lines in the country.

Legette posted the 2nd-best receiving season ever by a Gamecock as his 1255 receiving yards trails only Alshon Jeffery's All-American 2010 season. Legette's numbers came in just 12 games while Jeffery had 14 tries in 2010. #17 also put up those stats despite missing about a 1 1/2 game's worth of action with minor injuries.

It is the commonly-held expectation that both players will be taken in the top half of the 2024 NFL Draft, and both players have been mocked as high as the 1st round.

With the First Pick's Dustin Mosher isn't quite that high on the Gamecock duo, but in his latest top-100 NFL Draft board, both South Carolina football legends cracked the list.

Mosher slotted Xavier Legette into his #41 spot. Pick 41 is in the top half of the 2nd round (a common range for Legette in pre-draft projections). Mosher (rightly) believes that Legette's physical tools are what make him a potential high draft pick. As one of the fastest (4.39 in the 40-yard dash) and biggest (6'1" and 223 pounds) receivers in the draft, Legette should be able to be the rare combination of deep-ball threat and YAC monster if things go well for him at the next level.

Spencer Rattler was 66th on Mosher's board, which would slot him into the early 3rd round (another common pick range for Rattler in mock drafts). Rattler's size is a drawback according to Mosher, but he reminds his reader that #7 has elite arm talent and is a creative player. The NFL Draft analyst argued that Rattler should be a high-end backup in the league and that he even could fight to be a starter if he ends up with the right team.

The NFL Draft will begin on Thursday, April 25th and will last through Saturday, April 27th. Thursday's round 1 festivities will begin at 8:00 PM EST, Friday's 2nd and 3rd rounds will start at 7:00 PM EST, and Saturday's 4th through 7th rounds will start at 12:00 PM EST. NFL Draft coverage will be on ABC, ESPN, ESPN, and the NFL Network.