Panthers rookie WR Tetairoa McMillan is off to a historic start

There aren't a whole lot of silver linings in yet another 0-2 start for the Carolina Panthers. Bryce Young has had some struggles, Xavier Legette might not be an NFL-level player, and the defense is still pretty porous. But Tetairoa McMillan is the real deal.

He has had no trouble adjusting to the NFL, and he's easily become the Panthers' most reliable weapon. He genuinely might be the best player on that side of the ball, and he's off to a historic start already.

Per Darin Gantt of the Panthers website, the rookie had 82 receiving yards on "downfield passes," which gives him 129 such receiving yards this year. The next closest rookie in that category has just 55 yards. He's blowing the 2025 class out of the water.

It's also a franchise-best start for McMillan. He had 100 yards on the dot Sunday, which marked his first time eclipsing the watermark. It was the fastest for a rookie wide receiver to ever do that for the Panthers, surpassing both Kelvin Benjamin and Christian McCaffrey, who did it in their third games in 2014 and 2017, respectively.

Sep 14, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) runs with the ball during the first quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

This year, McMillan has 11 catches and 168 receiving yards, both of which set the rookie franchise records. It passes nine catches by Muhsin Muhammad in 1996 and McCaffrey in 2017, and is more than the 138 receiving yards recorded by Benjamin in 2014.

So far, it's looking like the Panthers really did nail the draft. McMillan is a stud, someone who can challenge for Rookie of the Year. He's really the only pass-catcher you trust to make a play when the ball goes his way on the Panthers roster.

That does speak a little more to the lack of quality of the other healthy players, but McMillan is legit. He looks like a future stud in the making, and Princely Umanmielen recorded the first sack of the season for the Panthers and infused life into a dead pass rush.

So clearly, the choice to pass on Jalon Walker or Mykel Williams and take McMillan instead paid off. The Panthers nailed the WR1 position, and they might've found a solid edge later on, too.

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