{"id":789592,"date":"2026-07-09T16:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T16:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/789592\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T16:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T16:59:11","slug":"panthers-tetairoa-mcmillan-was-one-of-the-worst-wr-in-the-nfl-in-key-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/789592\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers’ Tetairoa McMillan Was One of the Worst WR in the NFL in Key Area"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Carolina Panthers drafted Tetairoa McMillan with the eighth overall pick<\/a> in 2025, envisioning him as a future star. A true WR1. The type of weapon they’d been searching for<\/a> for what seemed like ages. <\/p>\n

At times, he looked like it, and the Rookie of the Year award bodes well. Previous ROY winners that were wide receivers include Garrett Wilson, Ja’Marr Chase, Odell Beckham Jr., and Percy Harvin. Good company. <\/p>\n

But McMillan wasn’t perfect. He had flaws, and there were some holes in his game<\/a> that he’s undoubtedly working on this offseason. Drops were an issue, but he wasn’t the worst in the league at that. <\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there’s another area of being a wide receiver in which McMillan actually was among the worst players in the NFL. <\/p>\n

Few WRs were worse than Tetairoa McMillan at contested catches\"Carolina<\/p>\n

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) makes the catch during the first day | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

If you watched the Carolina Panthers last year and thought that Tetairoa McMillan struggled to make those highlight-reel plays a future superstar makes, you’d be correct. Contested catches are the sort that pop, and McMillan didn’t have many. <\/p>\n

In fact, he was one of the worst in the sport at making those catches. If it was a tight, difficult catch, there was a good chance he wasn’t going to come down with it. He only recorded a contested catch on 30.4% of his contested targets. For context, the NFL’s leader was Puka Nacua at 71%. <\/p>\n

The Worst Receivers at Converting Contested Targets in 2025 pic.twitter.com\/mG6sA0GDlk<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 I Don\u2019t Watch Film (Football Analytics) (@NoFilm_Analysis) July 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, target numbers skew this percentage. What if McMillan had fewer targets than other players in the NFL? That isn’t the case here, though. We know Bryce Young threw him the ball plenty. McMillan ranked 15th in the entire sport. <\/p>\n

The numbers suggest that McMillan had plenty of targets, and a lot of contested catch opportunities he simply could not come down with. The film backs that up, as we saw plenty of big plays go wanting because he couldn’t reel them in. <\/p>\n

This appears, however, to be another part of McMillan’s adjustment to the NFL. Drops plagued him, but they weren’t really an issue in college. And in college, he had a contested catch rate around 50%, which is significantly higher than his NFL number. <\/p>\n

\"Carolina<\/p>\n

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) practices an avoidance drill | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

It was one season, his first in the NFL, so it’s not really indicative of what his career will be like. Tons of rookie wide receivers struggle in areas that they eventually get better at. McMillan will do that with drops and contested catches, eventually becoming the WR1 and superstar he can be. <\/p>\n

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