South Carolina Football: Gamecocks WAY too low on national outlet's NFL Draft board

South Carolina football fans are expecting at least two (potentially up to five or six) players from their favorite team to be selected in this April's NFL Draft. Spencer Rattler and Xavier Legette are locks to be taken and likely will go in the top half of the draft. Marcellas Dial, Trey Knox, Nick Gargiulo, and Ahmarean Brown all have a chance to be picked up late, as well.

For Rattler and Legette, NFL Draft projections keep putting their names all over their mock drafts and big boards. The talented pitch-and-catch duo were great in 2023 and solidified themselves as NFL-caliber players.

According to The Athletic's Dane Brugler, both players should be considered top-100 prospects in this year's draft, but they might be a little lower than South Carolina football fans might expect.

Brugler has Xavier Legette listed as the #80 prospect in the draft, and he has Spencer Rattler tabbed as the 88th-ranked player in the draft.

Legette is positioned as the 16th wide receiver in the draft according to Brugler's big board. Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, Rome Odunze, Brian Thomas Jr., Keon Coleman, Ladd McConkey, Adonai Mitchell, Troy Franklin, Roman Wilson, Xavier Worthy, Malachi Corley, Ja'Lynn Polk, Tez Walker, Jalen McMillan, and Ricky Pearsall were rated higher.

Rattler is the 7th quarterback on Brugler's board. Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, JJ McCarthy, Bo Nix, and Michael Penix Jr. are ahead of him.

For both Legette and Rattler, those positional rankings feel too low.

Xavier Legette has been rated as highly as a 1st round pick often during the NFL Draft process with only Harrison Jr., Nabers, Odunze, and Thomas Jr. seen as players viewed as clearly "better" draft prospects than Legette. Both the 80th pick and the 16th wide receiver are preposterously low for the athletic freak of a wide receiver.

Rattler had a few 1st round grades but has been included anywhere from the 2nd to 4th rounds in most mock drafts. During his recent Senior Bowl domination, Rattler far outplayed both Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. The 88th pick of the draft doesn't seem too far off for the talented gunslinger, but being the 7th quarterback is too low.

It is important to note that Brugler's list was meant to be a big board and not a mock draft. This means that teams picking based on roster needs could drastically change the order of players. However, what the list does indicate, is that Brugler believes there are 15 better wide receiver prospects than Xavier Legette and 6 better quarterback prospects than Spencer Rattler, two beliefs that the South Carolina football alums intend to prove wrong.

Both players will have the opportunity to better their positioning in the minds of NFL organizations at the NFL Scouting Combine in a few weeks. Legette and Rattler will be joined in Indianapolis for the event by teammates Marcellas Dial, Trey Knox, and Nick Gargiulo.