The run from “starting franchise quarterback” to “benched bust” to “rejuvenated savior” is a solid arc over an entire career; Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold both reached Station 3 last year. Over in Carolina, though, Bryce Young sped-run through all the stations in just one season. After Thursday night’s first round of the draft, it’s clear that the Panthers are tripling down on Young’s potential, yet another bounce in the NFL’s most pinballing quarterback career.

With the eighth pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Panthers selected wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan out of Arizona. McMillan himself is a defensible, potentially exceptional pick. He projects as a WR1, and for adding McMillan’s “depth and starting talent” to the roster. The pick the Cowboys’ Micah Parsons, who wanted the receiver at No. 12, and any time you make someone picking below you spitting mad, you’ve done well.

Advertisement

The question on McMillan is: Was this the right pick for the Panthers as a franchise? Here’s why. The 2024 Carolina Panthers were, by one objective measure, the worst defensive team in NFL history. Last year, Carolina gave up 534 points — almost 32 a game — over the course of the year, worse than any team ever. Ever.

Yes, the 17-game season is a significant factor here. Plus, Carolina didn’t claim the record for average points per game allowed — the 2-14 Baltimore Colts of 1981, with 533 points allowed, still own that beauty, at 33.3 points per game. Still, that’s a semantic detail; there’s no way to put lipstick on last year’s pig of a season.

Advertisement

So why, with quality first-round-level defensive talent still on the board, did Carolina repeat its strategy of 2024 and take a wide receiver in the first round? Why let Georgia’s Jalon Walker fall into the hands of divisional rival Atlanta just a few picks later?

“The guy’s a baller,” Panthers head coach Dave Canales . “There’s a simple way to look at it. Watch film, and the ballers show up. And they make plays in big moments and they’re always looking to do something special.”

Canales added that he expects McMillan to bring a different skillset to the field than 2024 first-rounder Xavier Legette, who still appeared raw and dropsy in his rookie season, or veteran Adam Thielen and second-year receiver Jalen Coker.

“You got like a basketball team going on right now,” Canales . “There’s different attributes. Xavier Legette, the power and speed he brings, [Adam] Thielen’s craftsmanship, we saw Jalen Coker come on strong last year. Tet, all of a sudden, brings in this really long 6-4 target to kinda round out the group. It’s a really cool group to think about.”

At the heart of all this, though, is the man tasked with getting them the ball. Young struggled early last season, rode the bench for several games, then returned reinvigorated. Granted, Carolina went 5-12 in 2024, but the Panthers did win two of their last three, so … progress?

Advertisement

Young and McMillan played against each other in high school in California, and according to McMillan, the QB stepped up for him in the Panthers’ front offices.

“He just told me that he’s been sitting on the table for me, going into [GM Dan] Morgan’s office, going into Coach Canales’s office, and really just sitting on the table with me and telling them, ‘Hey man, we need to pick this guy,’” McMillan said after being picked. “So, although I feel like I did what I needed to do to be in the position, I give credit to Bryce for vouching for me and, ultimately, for them taking a chance on me.”

The Panthers have eight picks remaining, including two in the fourth round and three in the fifth. It’s a marked improvement over last year, when Carolina had no first-round pick thanks to the deal with Chicago that got them Young in the first place. Carolina has begun improving its defense via free agency — for their defensive shopping spree — and surely will patch holes over the two remaining days of the draft.

McMillan, meanwhile, has a big frame and excellent hands, which pair well with Young’s established accuracy. He was, by most accounts, the top-rated receiver in the draft, and he’ll have the opportunity to seize the WR1 job for himself. The question for Carolina isn’t whether he’s a good pick, it’s whether he was the right pick. The scoreboard will render that verdict soon enough.