Bryce Young didn’t hesitate when talking about Carolina Panthers' rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan.
"TMac, he was him," bragged Young. "He was, he's exactly who he's been. He was elite; he's a special player.”
For a quarterback who has spent the first two years of his career carrying the weight of a rebuild, those words mattered more than praise. They were confirmation that Carolina finally found the one thing Young needs to survive. A receiver who changes everything.
McMillan finished 15th among all NFL wide receivers in yardage (1,044) and 15th in targets (122) while starting every game.
Carolina Panthers finally have an elite receiver for Bryce Young in Tetairoa McMillan
Young suddenly had a 6-foot-4 target with an elite catch radius, a contested catch superstar who erased tight coverage mistakes, a vertical threat that defenses had to tilt toward, and a reliable chain mover who secured 55 first downs throughout the campaign.
The former Alabama standout didn’t just praise McMillan; he went a step further and publicly predicted what many around the league now believe is coming.
"He'll be the offensive rookie of the year. I have all the confidence in the world, again, a special guy, stuff you can't teach, and all the stuff that you can, he's working super hard at, he's working to perfect it, and cares about the craft.”
Officially, that award hasn’t been handed out yet. The Associated Press finalists won’t be announced until later this month, with the winner revealed at the NFL Honors ceremony on February 5. But one major evaluator already made its decision.
Pro Football Focus named McMillan its 2025 Rookie of the Year, and the reasoning goes beyond basic stat lines. Among all non-quarterback rookies across offense and defense, the wideout led the entire class in Wins Above Average (0.56), a metric designed to measure how much a player directly contributes to winning.
The Panthers have swung and missed on first-rounders and early picks before. Everyone remembers the years spent chasing playmakers who never became foundational pieces. It was a massive catalyst behind the plunge to rock bottom, but the tide is starting to turn.
McMillan already is one, and more. He brings a skill set that travels, translates, and elevates everything around him, giving Young the kind of reliable, high-end target this offense has been missing for far too long.
The Panthers drafted the player who could define the next era, and the Young-McMillan connection is a pairing you’ll be hearing about for years to come.