After drafting Tetairoa McMillan with the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers have built a strong depth chart at wide receiver. McMillan joins last year’s 32nd overall pick, Xavier Legette, and veteran Adam Thielen, forming a big three in Carolina for young QB Bryce Young.
Carolina Panthers’ WR Depth Chart
Young, the former Alabama quarterback, enters his third NFL season with the most weapons he’s had to date. A back-and-forth year saw him play 14 games, where he totaled 2,403 yards, 15 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. With a new-look offense, the Panthers could be a sleeper threat in a wide-open NFC South.
With McMillan likely stepping into the Panthers’ WR1 role, let’s take a look at what the young talent did in his final season with the Arizona Wildcats.
Who Is Tetairoa McMillan?
Standing at 6-foot-4 and 217 pounds, McMillan is an elite WR talent. He’s coming off a season with 1,319 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. He averaged over 15 yards per catch and broke off a 78-yard score to highlight his 2024 campaign. PFSN’s Ian Cummings offered more insight on the No. 8 overall pick:
“McMillan has truly elite short-area quickness, bend, flexibility, and stop-and-start capacity as a route runner. He brings enough speed and burst to the fold, has nuanced spatial IQ, and plays like a power forward at the catch point.
“The biggest question mark for McMillan is whether he can be a true WR1, or whether he profiles more as a high-end WR2. Early in his career, he might function better as the latter, but his quickness and size suggest he can expand his release package and eventually morph into a number one.”
Who Is Xavier Leggette?
It’s back-to-back seasons of Carolina taking a wideout in the first round. Legette, a product of the University of South Carolina, made his mark as a 6-foot-3 playmaker.
In his rookie year, Legette appeared in 16 games and logged 497 receiving yards on 49 receptions. He added four touchdowns to help steady the Young–Andy Dalton QB rotation.
Who Is Adam Thielen?
Thielen enters his 12th NFL season and third with Carolina. Last year, the 34-year-old led all Panthers receivers with 615 yards and five touchdowns, despite playing just 10 games. Two seasons ago, he posted his third career 1,000-yard season, continuing to battle Father Time.
Regardless of his 2025 role, Thielen will be a valuable veteran presence to help guide the young talent behind him.
