'The guy's a baller': Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan too good to pass up for Carolina Panthers

Tetairoa McMillan was widely projected as an early-to-late first-round pick entering the NFL Draft.

It was the former for the Arizona Wildcats wide receiver, who was selected eighth overall by the Carolina Panthers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay on Thursday.

McMillan, who is the highest-drafted offensive player in Arizona history, is the first UA receiver to land in the first round of the NFL Draft. McMillan is also the highest-drafted Wildcat since linebacker Chris Singleton in 1990. McMillan is the 12th first-round pick produced by the UA.

McMillan donned an all-purple suit with a black turtleneck, a customized “N4LO” chain (his nickname is Nalo for his hometown of Waimanalo, Hawaii, and his jersey number is 4) and a lei crafted by his grandmother, Blanche McMillan, to pay homage to Polynesian culture.

After McMillan walked onto the stage following the pick, he placed a lei around NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

After he was drafted, McMillan told ESPN, “it’s a blessing” to represent Polynesian culture at the NFL Draft.

“At the end of the day, the people who came before me laid the foundation and set the precedent for me to be successful,” McMillan said. “I’m trying to put on for the Polynesian culture and make everybody proud.”

In an interview in the NFL Draft green room, McMillan’s father, Ikaika McMillan, said, “Our dreams came to a reality” watching the younger McMillan get drafted. McMillan’s mother, Shawny McMillan, fought back tears and said, “I’m just beyond proud.

“This just means so much,” she said. “We come from humble beginnings, so this means so much.”

For the first round of the NFL Draft, the UA football team held a watch party at Corbett’s near Fourth Avenue.

In three seasons at Arizona, Tetairoa McMillan, who was the highest-rated recruit in UA history, recorded a school-record 3,423 yards and 26 touchdowns, which is the third-most in program history. McMillan ended his Arizona career with the most career receiving yards in Arizona history, passing current UA wide receivers coach Bobby Wade in the Wildcats’ road finale against TCU.

McMillan also holds the single-game record for receiving yards (304) and touchdowns (four), which he set in the season opener against New Mexico in August. McMillan ended his college career with 1,162 yards after catch, and his 213 career receptions ranks fourth in UA history behind Mike Thomas, Wade and Dennis Northcutt. Last season, the 6-5, 212-pound McMillan totaled 84 catches for 1,319 yards and eight touchdowns.

After the 2024 season, McMillan became the first Wildcat to receive First-Team Associated Press All-American honors since Scooby Wright III in 2014 — the first UA offensive player to receive first-team AP All-American honors since running back Ka’Deem Carey in 2013.

McMillan also received AP All-Big 12 honors and was an all-conference selection, in addition to landing All-American honors from Pro Football Focus and CBS, among other outlets.

McMillan became the first Arizona player to be named the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year.

With McMillan landing in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday and former Arizona offensive lineman Jordan Morgan going No. 25 overall last year, it’s the first time Arizona has consecutive drafts with first-round picks since 1999 and 2000, when defensive back Chris McAlister went 10th overall to the Baltimore Ravens and running back Trung Canidate landed at No. 31 overall to the St. Louis Rams.

McMillan is the fifth Wildcat to land inside the Top 10 of the NFL Draft, joining running back Walt Nielsen, linebacker Ricky Hunley, Singleton and McAlister.

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McMillan is the first-ever Wildcat to be drafted by the Carolina Panthers, a franchise that hasn’t had a winning season since its last playoff appearance in 2017.

The Panthers are quarterbacked by former top overall pick Bryce Young, who played against McMillan in 2019, when the receiver was a sophomore at Servite High School (California) and Young was a standout senior at Mater Dei. McMillan had eight catches for 52 yards and a touchdown, while Young had 338 yards and four touchdowns in a 56-11 rout of Servite. McMillan’s Servite teammate, defensive tackle Mason Graham, was chosen fifth overall to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday.

Young, a former Heisman Trophy winner, is entering his third season in Carolina. The quarterback was benched after the second game of the 2024 season for Andy Dalton, but regained starter status halfway through the season. Young finished the 2024 season with 2,403 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions with a 60.9% completion rate.

McMillan told reporters Thursday that Young advocated for Carolina drafting the Arizona receiver and said, “Hey, man, we need to pick this guy.’”

“Although I feel like I did what I needed to do to be in this position, I give credit to Bryce for vouching for me and ultimately taking a chance on me,” McMillan said.

Besides McMillan, Carolina’s receiving corps includes Pro Bowler and veteran Adam Thielen, Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette, who was the Panthers’ first-round pick in last year’s draft. Legette, a 6-3, 227-pound South Carolina product, posted a mild 497 receiving yards and four touchdowns in his rookie season. Even though Legette is considered an “X” receiver, he played 30.8% of his snaps at slot receiver, according to Pro Football Focus. McMillan played 22.9% of his snaps at slot receiver and 76.6% of his snaps out wide at Arizona.

When asked how the addition of McMillan will affect Legette, Panthers general manager Dan Morgan said, “Xavier wants to win and he’s hungry to go out there and compete and show up big this year.”

McMillan was “somebody that we obviously really liked,” Morgan said.

“Thought he could add a different dimension to our offense and just add another playmaker to the offensive side of the ball,” he added. “Not only a great player, but he’s a great kid and somebody that (Panthers head coach Dave Canales) and I really value. So we’re excited to have him in the building and excited to get going with him. ... He’s just a great receiver that’s super fluid. His body control is some of the best I’ve seen in a while.”

Like McMillan, Canales has ties to the Los Angeles area and grew up in Carson, California. The second-year head coach was mentored by former USC and Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, before he was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator in 2023 and the Panthers head coach in ‘24. Canales was the Seahawks’ wide receivers coach from 2010-17.

When Canales evaluated McMillan in the days leading up to the NFL Draft, the Panthers head coach “put my receiver coach hat on and watched his (private workout) and watched his route craft, the way he can reduce his surface in the top of routes as a (6-5) guy.” McMillan provides Carolina a “good size element and red zone target.”

“There’s a lot of things to be excited about,” Canales said. “Something that was really cool for us to come together and we knew that unless someone blew us out of the water with something, we weren’t going to let our guy pass. It was a great moment for us. ... The guy’s a baller. There’s a simple way to look at it: Watch film and the ballers show up. They make plays in big moments and they’re always looking to do something special.”

Morgan said the Panthers “had a few calls” from other teams about potentially trading the eighth overall pick.

“Obviously, you entertain everything and at the end of it, we wanted to get our guy, and we’re excited about,” said the Panthers general manager.

McMillan, whose rookie contract is worth $24.8 million over four years, is “ready to do whatever it takes” to help Carolina, he said.

“I know I have a quarterback I can trust in and a coaching staff that believes in me, teammates that are ready to play for me and I’m ready to play for them,” said McMillan. “Sky’s the limit for this organization, and I can’t wait.”