Tetairoa McMillan spent the summer earning trust to be the No. 1 guy

Sep 04, 2025 at 06:14 PM

Kassidy Hill

The Carolina Panthers hold practice on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025 at Bank Of America Stadium, in Charlotte, NC.

CHARLOTTE — Tetairoa McMillan isn't trying to be braggadocious or cocky. He just wants everyone to be aware of a few facts, namely, that he can play quarterback anytime, anywhere, should the situation call for such an occurrence.

"I'm like that," the rookie receiver smirks, standing up from his locker to literally stand on business, as fellow receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. hypes him from two lockers down.

Related Links

"Do your research and you'll see, I'm like that," McMillan continues. Then, worried that this random conversation about his passing prowess four days before his NFL debut as a receiver might be forgotten soon, he points to a nearby laptop, telling this reporter to pull up highlights from his high school days. When that seems like too much legwork, digging deep on Google, he asks for the Arizona versus West Virginia game on October 6, 2024.

"Go towards the end," he directs. "Second half, we scored the next play, so look for that."

Finally, there it is.

"Ohhhh," smiled TMac, rubbing his hands together, already excited for the assembled crowd to see his turn at quarterback.

The Wildcats were facing first-and-goal from the 3-yard line. McMillan came out of a stack on the left side and ran a jet sweep, taking the pitch from his quarterback and running right. The plan was to set up on the right side of the formation (in the middle of the field, since this is a college with wide hashmarks) and throw to a tight end in the end zone.

But a rusher came free as McMillan was setting up for the throw, pushing the receiver into the open backfield. From there, he ran back to the 25-yard line, escaping the defense, circling around, looking for any open receiver. In theory, he had one in his quarterback, Noah Fifita, who was standing wide open around the 5-yard line, with no one between him and the goal line. The pass from McMillan was right on his hands, but Fifita, somewhat unprepared for the ball to come his way, couldn't hold on.

"But you saw the pass, right?" pointed out McMillan, as the replay rolled on the laptop.

Yes, we saw the pass, and it was impressive. What stands out to his Panthers' coaches, such as offensive coordinator Brad Idzik, is how McMillan never flinched as defenders crashed, a common thread with him and actual quarterback Bryce Young.

"Just knowing that you give him the ball, he's going to extend plays just like Bryce does too, so you know maybe there's a little symmetry there if you do end up giving him the the rock to throw it," Idzik noted, adding that yes, TMac has shown him a couple of passing plays before, trying to subtly (or not) convince his OC to use him as a QB sometime.

It's a fun conversation, at least. But for now, Carolina doesn't need their No. 8 overall pick to be a backup quarterback. They need him to be the number one receiver.

The Carolina Panthers hold practice on Thursday, Sep. 4, 2025 at Bank Of America Stadium, in Charlotte, NC.

Heading into Week 1, preparing to face the Jaguars and a secondary that played man 38.9 percent of the time last season, the Panthers are confident in what McMillan can become even this early on.

"For TMac it's just about being the best version of himself every day, and that's what he's really poured into," Idzik bragged. "He's a pro in his approach and his communication. That's been one of the best parts, just watching him immediately, you know, you go from offense to defense in the scope of a practice, and the second the defense is on the field, he's ironing things out with Bryce. 'Hey, how did that feel?'

"Like whether it was a completion or they're working on timing or a decision, and they're getting another route on the side, but his communication with Bryce and myself, and Rob Moore has been nothing but professional, So that inspires belief in all of us are saying, OK, this guy's going to accelerate really fast in his learning curve, because he wants it, he's hungry, and then the skill set takes care of itself."

The Carolina Panthers hold practice on Wednesday, Sep. 3, 2025 at Bank Of America Stadium, in Charlotte, NC.

As practice has worn on during training camp and now into the season, McMillan has found a way to show up every day. Whether it be a one-handed catch (which he still swears isn't something he's trying to do, it's just a matter of bringing in any ball in his radius) or a tight window throw down the sideline, or a wide open catch in deep downfield after juking his defender, TMac has made an impression on his coaches and his teammates.

Now, they're ready to introduce him to the NFL world.

"We all saw that in the draft prep, we all saw it in the spring, in training camp, that's why we brought him in the building because we believe in the person and that professional is showing up," Idzik said. "And then the skill set, we do believe, is a match-up for any team we're going against."

McMillan says it won't hit him until he's running out of the tunnel in Jacksonville on Sunday, and promises he has no personal goals for his debut.

"A win," he declares. "That's all that matters, just adding one to the victory column for the Carolina Panthers."

But if coaches wanted to give him a play as quarterback too, well, that'd be fine with him.