The Carolina Panthers, along with the rest of the league, are about to hold a three-day mandatory minicamp. While the season is still months away, this is always important.
It’s the last time the team is together before everyone returns in late July for training camp. The three-day minicamp serves as an opportunity to jumpstart the plans for the season, which is the second under head coach Dave Canales.
Not much will be answered in minicamp, but it will help everyone get a look at some of the team’s biggest question marks heading into the season. The biggest for the Panthers is painfully obvious.
It was recently highlighted by ESPN in a piece looking at a key storyline for all 32 teams heading into minicamp. For Carolina, David Newton asked, “What's the impact of first-round pick Tetairoa McMillan on quarterback Bryce Young and the offense?”
"The wide receiver out of Arizona was taken No. 8 instead of a player who could help the worst defense in the NFL last season. It was the second straight year Carolina drafted a wide receiver in Round 1, and so far, the relationship between McMillan and Xavier Legette has been good. But will McMillan elevate the offense to outweigh the potential value of a defensive player at No. 8?"David Newton (ESPN)
Everyone wants to know what impact Tetairoa McMillan will have on Bryce Young and Carolina Panthers offense
Newton made it clear he thinks the No. 8 overall pick should’ve been used on a defensive player. Since Carolina chose to go with a wideout instead, there’s pressure on McMillan to deliver and elevate the offense. However, as a receiver selected in the top 10, those expectations would’ve been placed on him regardless. The good news is that he is seemingly prepared to meet them.
The 6-foot-4 wideout has already been building a rapport with Bryce Young in OTAs, and even back in California before he was drafted by the Panthers. He’ll have the opportunity to improve that connection in the coming days. However, while McMillan is expected to have a big role, the weight of the entire receiving game isn’t going to be on his shoulders.
The Panthers have done a nice job of putting together a promising wide receiver room with both veteran and young talent. If the guys can all get on the same page with Young, Carolina will be a much better team in 2025.