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Only one rookie WR is out-producing Tetairoa McMillan halfway through NFL season

The eighth overall pick in April's draft has been a solid addition for Dave Canales’s Panthers. Tetairoa McMillan may be on his way to a record-breaking season.
Russell Baxter|
Green Bay Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine (24) breaks up a pass to Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) on Sunday, November 2, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Carolina defeated Grewen Bay 16-13. Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Green Bay Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine (24) breaks up a pass to Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) on Sunday, November 2, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Carolina defeated Grewen Bay 16-13. Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin | Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Carolina Panthers

He has been the Carolina Panthers’ most productive pass-catcher this season, and it really isn’t close. Back in April, general manager Dan Morgan defied some common assumptions and used the eighth overall pick in the draft on a wide receiver instead of a much-needed pass rusher. He opted for University of Arizona standout Tetairoa McMillan.

Nine games into 2025, he leads Carolina with 41 receptions, good for 558 yards (13.6 average) and a pair of scores—both touchdowns coming in the team’s win over Dallas in Week 6. He’s one of five Panthers’ players with two TD grabs.

McMillan’s catch total is more than twice that of Xavier Legette (20 in 7 games), who is second on the team in that area and who led Dave Canales’s club in this category (49) a year ago. Amazingly, McMillan is the only player on the team that has totaled at least 200 receiving yards (Legette is second with 181).

The staff at The 33rd Team listed the top rookie pass-catchers this season in terms of receiving yards.

Only Tampa Bay’s talented wideout Emeka Egbuka (562) has been more productive in this area, and he has put up those numbers in one fewer game (8) with seven fewer receptions (34).

So what heights could the former Wildcat reach this season? The Panthers’ rookie record for receptions in a season is actually held by running back Christian McCaffrey (80) in 2017. The most receiving yards (1,008) and touchdown catches (9) by a rookie were set three years earlier by wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin in 2014. All appear within reach if the 6’5”, 212-pound target can remain healthy for the remainder of 2025.

Of course, a winning season and a playoff appearance by the team for the first time since 2017 would be pretty exhilarating as well.

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Russell Baxter
RUSSELL BAXTER

Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.