CHARLOTTE — Sometimes, as a rookie, you don't know what you don't know. Which is probably why when Tetairoa McMillan found out he'd made the Top 100 after his first season, clocking in at 87th overall, his first response was to brush it off.

McMillan came to Charlotte to be great and make the Carolina Panthers great. The top 100 is just a by-product of that goal.

"I feel like that's regular," he shrugged. "That's regular. I mean, how many people are in the league?"

Counting 53-man rosters, there are 1,696 players in the league. Adding practice squad players who can be promoted at any time brings the total to 2,208 players. Even just using the first number, players have a 6 percent chance to make the top 100, a ranking assembled from votes by all players in the league in 2025.

"But I feel like top 100, that's a lot of people," interjected McMillan. "That's how I think of it. That's 99 other people that could be in there besides myself."

Ok, fair, and to McMillan's point, to truly be special, to truly be the catalyst that changes a franchise, 1 of 100 needs to become one of one.

But McMillan has been one of one already, winning rookie of the year after a debut season that saw him finish with 70 receptions for 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns. And as his career advances and the gravity of those peaks and valleys takes weight, the rookie's mindset may change.

Those who have been in the league for a while, though, are a little more effusive when praising TMac's inclusion on the list.

"Tetairoa McMillan, yeah, he's cold," nodded offensive lineman Robert Hunt. "He's cold. He'll be around for a long time. He makes a lot of plays, gifted."

Those highlight-worthy plays, ones that dotted McMillan's record-setting season, included one-handed catches, breakaway catch and runs where he left defensive backs in his dust, acrobatic grabs that relied on his volleyball background, and 50-50 balls where he used his 6-5 frame to physically beat anyone who dared guard him.

"He plays around with leverage to DBs," explained offensive coordinator Brad Idzik. "He's playing the game within the game on his first year, and now you add that experience of playing in the NFL under his belt."

That instinctual athleticism, coupled with institutional knowledge gained at a lightning pace, is why, according to Idzik, the receiver was able to catapult himself into the Top 100 in one season.

"Accelerated growth," Idzik answered to McMillan's greatest strength. "He came in, we joke about it, whatever his age is, he's going on 30, and he soaks up things like a sponge.

"He's a guy that I'll go to, to make sure that, 'Hey, how do you, how do you see the leverage you're playing on 3rd down? How do you see these coverages?' I look forward to going there now that he's got all the offensive terminology under his belt and then continuing to grow it.

"So it's really — for him — we all know his physical attributes, his ability to run routes, his ability to get in and out of breaks, his size, but it's really the mentals for him that accelerated his growth so far beyond his years."

The Top 100 is largely an individualistic honor, but it's been the receiver's impact on the rest of his team that has really made him a special player.

"He came in and did something that no other rookie did. And he shone in a place where it was up and coming. But he put in a lot for the up-and-coming to happen," explained fellow receiver David Moore.

"I would say he's in there for coming in, taking over that role that he was expected to take over, and doing it at a high level, like an over-1,000-yard season. That's big time. As a rookie? Even bigger. And to do it with the style that he got, it wasn't easy.

"He's just not trying to make a moment too big and doesn't want it to be too small, but at the same time, I know for a fact he's grateful about it."

If the Panthers and Tetairoa McMillan are right about the receiver's ceiling, this is far from his last accolade and will probably even be one of many entries on the Top 100 list. And there is a sense of gratefulness that still outlines everything he has achieved thus far. But it's not the only goal. That comes with the whole team.

And if there are going to be individual awards, he can think of one or two that would really make an impact.

"Like a top 10 or win MVP," he smirked. "That's only one person who can get that."

The NFL Top 100 series is debuting on X each weekday. Each episode will feature two new player reveals (one at 10 a.m. ET and one at 11 a.m. ET) through Friday, Aug. 21. The top 10 will be announced over the course of two weeks, with a player revealed each day at 10 a.m. ET from Aug. 24 through Sept. 4.

Panthers players thus far on the Top 100:

No. 98 — Quarterback Bryce Young

No. 90 — Defensive tackle Derrick Brown

Episodes will air later on NFL+, as well as other NFL-owned-and-operated social media, and we'll have all the latest for you here at Panthers.com.