Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan’s Greatest Skill in 2025 Still Needs Refinement

What a difference a year can make. Flashback to the 2024 season, which marked the head-coaching debut for new Carolina Panthers’ sideline leader Dave Canales. The club won four of its last nine games after a 1-7 start. The improved finish was generated largely by second-year quarterback Bryce Young, who Canales benched after two games.

Carolina Panthers’ passing attack was dismal in 2024

Take a look at the Panthers’ pass-catching numbers in 2024. Xavier Legette, a first-round pick that year, led the club with a mediocre 49 receptions. Meanwhile, veteran Adam Thielen amassed team-highs in receiving yards (615) and touchdown catches (5). Carolina was the only team in the league that season that did not have a player catch at least 50 passes. All told, only two teams in the league averaged fewer passing yards per game than the Panthers.

Enter University of Arizona wideout Tetairoa McMillan. Panthers’ general manager Dan Morgan used the eighth overall pick in the 2025 draft on the former Wildcat, and he wasted little time making an impression on Canales’s club.

Panthers’ WR Tetairoa McMillan had a strong debut campaign in 2025

“(McMillan) hit the ground running to become (Bryce) Young’s go-to guy,” explained Bobby Kownack of NFL.com, “and he was especially destructive deep. He saw 69 targets downfield (10-plus air yards), catching 35 for 726 yards and five scores. McMillan was the runaway AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, racking up 41 of 50 first-place votes, and by all appearances is just getting started.”

The 6’5”, 212-pound target, the No. 87 player on the NFL Top 100, led Carolina in catches (70), receiving yards (1,014) and TD grabs (7). McMillan started all 17 games during his rookie campaign, as well as the playoff clash with the Rams. He was targeted seven times and caught five passes for 81 yards in the 34-31 loss to Sean McVay’s club.

WR Tetairoa McMillan needs to be better in one area in 2026

Tmac and the T is for Touchdown

Tetairoa McMillan x #ProBowlVote

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/fN5tchb342
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) November 30, 2025

Jumping back to Kownack’s stat about McMillan’s downfield prowess. The good news is that those 35 receptions for 726 yards averages out to a brisk 20.7 yards per catch. The bad new per se is that those catches came on 69 targets, meaning McMillan only pulled down a mere 50.7 percent of those long-distance tosses.

Canales’s team has an up-and-coming wideout duo in McMillan and former undrafted free agent Jalen Coker. Legette will look to get on track after a pair of disappointing seasons, while 2026 third-round pick Chris Brazzell II has already opened some eyes. If McMillan emerges as a more dependable deep threat, he makes an improving Panthers’ passing attack even more dangerous.

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