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University of Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan.
The Carolina Panthers reunited Adam Thielen with the Minnesota Vikings when they traded him on Wednesday. With that decision, they sent a message about the confidence level in their wide receiver room. Carolina is a team that hopes to be on the rise, and with that trade, the team got a lot younger.
The Panthers’ youth will lead their wide receiver room. David Moore is the only receiver on the roster who is over 30 years old, and only Brycen Tremayne is 25 or older among the receivers. There are no receivers on the team who have recorded a 1,000-yard season or even a 500-yard season in the NFL. The receiver group will be a question mark, but one player that the franchise will be relying on heavily is Tetairoa McMillan.
McMillan, the eighth pick in the NFL draft, will enter his rookie season as the number one receiver, and over the Summer, the franchise was given reason to have faith in him.
Stand Out Training Camp
Tetairoa McMillan entered Panthers training camp with a lot of hype and expectations, and throughout the Summer, he met the moment. Even with up-and-down days in camp, McMillan has impressed with his ability to bounce back strongly.
Kassidy Hill of Panthers.com, in an August 1 article about McMillan, detailed his resilience and Panthers head coach Dave Canales finding that trait admirable in McMillan.
“He’s learning how to play that game and, you know, just continue to use his body,” Canales said. “Just shows a lot of confidence and belief, you know, he’s had some pretty bad plays throughout camp, and he’s had some excellent plays, and I think, when you have a guy, he’s teaching me stuff about him that I don’t know, just looking at his character.”
The NFL season is a grind with numerous ups and downs, so having the ability to bounce back from difficult moments quickly is a significant advantage. The ability to move swiftly on to the next play will also help McMillan gain the trust of quarterback Bryce Young, who himself is going through a period of growth.
More Confident Bryce Young
At the end of last season, Bryce Young finally showed why the Panthers made him the number one pick in the draft and why he’s a former Heisman Trophy winner. For large parts of Young’s first few seasons in the NFL, he seemed to lack confidence, but now he’s turned a corner, and the addition of Tetairoa McMillan will only help Young grow more as a passer.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales doesn’t believe that Young is done growing as well and that his ceiling can be infinite. Andrew Peters of Bleacher Report wrote about how Canales feels like Young hasn’t reached his ceiling yet.
“I don’t think there’s a ceiling for Bryce,” Canales said. “I think that, first and foremost, it’s team football, and Dan Morgan and I talk about this all the time. If we build this team right, and we put Bryce into big games, big situations, big moments, he’ll come through for us.”
With such an inexperienced wide receiver core, Young will need to help guide them along. However, leaving McMillan as the undisputed number one receiver following the trade of Adam Thielen shows that the franchise has confidence in McMillan stepping up into the role.
Chad Gelfand Chad Gelfand is a journalist covering the NFL with focus on the Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks, and Carolina Panthers for Heavy.com. Gelfand has over six years of writing experience.
Gelfand previously covered the Philadelphia Eagles for Last Word On Sports. He also has experience writing in the worlds of entertainment and wrestling.
Gelfand was an Entertainment writer for the List.com, and a contributor for Fansided’s wrestling website Daily DDT and The Wrestling Estate. Gelfand has also appeared multiple times as a guest on POST Wrestling’s “Bushby and Thompson’s Wrestling Adventure” podcast. More about Chad Gelfand
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