Tetairoa McMillan just put together the best game of his career against the Detroit Lions, catching 14 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns in the Carolina Panthers' victory on Sunday Night Football.
This confirmed what fans have known for months. He was the right pick at No. 8 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Both of those numbers were career highs as McMillan finished with 16 targets and became the focal point of Carolina's passing game throughout the night.
Tetairoa McMillan was the right pick for the Carolina Panthers
That performance also pushed McMillan to 26 receptions for 385 receiving yards and two scores through four games this season. He already has 96 catches for 1,399 yards and nine touchdowns in just 21 career games.
For a player selected No. 8 overall amid plenty of questions about whether Carolina should have addressed another position, the answer is becoming pretty clear.
McMillan started all 17 games as a rookie and finished with 70 receptions for 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns, running away with the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
But the context around the selection is what makes his current breakout even more important.
Carolina entered the 2025 draft with plenty of defensive needs after allowing the most points and yards in the NFL the previous season.
Tetairoa McMillan is on a fast-track to superstardom with the Carolina Panthers
General manager Dan Morgan and head coach Dave Canales instead decided their young quarterback needed another legitimate weapon.
They were right.
McMillan immediately became Young's most reliable target and eventually became what Canales described as the focal point of the offense.
That's a strong return on a top-10 pick after just one full season.
The Panthers took a gamble by prioritizing a receiver over several defensive needs with the eighth pick in 2025. Not even two seasons later, there is very little left to question.
McMillan instantly proved his worth as one of the league's best young pass-catchers. Now he's following it up by looking like the kind of receiver who can become a centerpiece of Carolina's offense for years.
Through four games, he has surpassed 100 receiving yards twice, including a 101-yard performance against the Atlanta Falcons before his prime-time explosion at Bank of America Stadium.
The Lions game was simply the clearest example yet of what Carolina hoped it was getting. McMillan caught a 32-yard touchdown in the second quarter and added a 10-yard score in the third. Later, he made an 18-yard sideline catch on third and 14 to keep a critical drive alive.
The No. 8 pick was supposed to give Young another weapon. It looks like Carolina got much more than that.
Add us as a preferred source on Google