Carolina Panthers earn perfect grade for their top 2025 NFL draft pick

When it was over, we wrote that the Carolina Panthers' 2025 draft class was so surprisingly spooky-good it was a sign of the imminent apocalypse. So far the take has held up well, as it's clear this is the team's best draft class by far since 2017.

At the top, the Panthers' decision to punt on Jalon Walker and target Tetairoa McMillan at No. 8 overall in the draft has aged particularly well. McMillan enters Week 15 leading all rookies with 826 receiving yards and six touchdowns, including four in his last three games.

Jalon Walker has had a pretty respectable rookie season himself, totaling 5.5 sacks, nine QB hits and four tackles for a loss. However, McMillan's production is much preferred - especially because without him Carolina's passing attack would easily be the worst in the NFL.

A new piece from Bucky Brooks at NFL.com has given Morgan his proper respect. He gave the Panthers an "A" grade for the McMilla pick.

Panthers get A grade for Tetairoa McMillan pick

"The emerging big-play specialist has quickly settled in a the Panthers' WR1, exhibiting exceptional ball skills an route-running ability on the perimeter."

While McMillan seems destined to be a star now, his success was far from guaranteed. The early reports coming out of training camp indicated that McMillan was struggling - especially against physical press coverage. In his defense, that may have had more to do with Jaycee Horn than anything - he was recently voted the league's best press DB.

What matters is that McMillan has shaken off some early jitters and settled in as a reliable producer - and that big-play ability that Brooks mentioned is the single best thing the Panthers offense has going for it now that Rico Dowdle has cooled off from his atomic midseason run.

In 13 games McMillan has averaged 14.5 yards per reception - tying him with Tee Higgins for the 18th-most in the NFL this season. His 46 first downs ranks eighth in the league.

McMillan is brilliant in space, tough to tackle, and loves adding YAC. The only fair criticism of his game right now is his catch rate, which is at 58.2% in part thanks to seven drops. If and when McMillan cleans that up, he may have a ceiling as high as any receiver in the game.

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