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Thursday Night Football fantasy: Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker
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- Thursday Night Football fantasy: Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker
In the past 25 years, the Panthers have produced two top-24 fantasy WRs only once : Robbie Anderson (Chosen) and Curtis Samuel in 2020. Now this franchise is leaning heavily on Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker. Can fantasy managers trust them on Thursday Night Football and beyond?
Carolina's strong WR tandem is unique. McMillan is a former #8 overall draft pick, the result of a series of high-priced draft missteps in the years leading up to it: Terrace Marshall Jr., Jonathan Mingo, and Xavier Legette. Unlike his recent predecessors, McMillan has demonstrated that he can be an alpha receiver. For fantasy managers, the 23-year-old is becoming a solid weekly fantasy starter.
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Coker is a former undrafted free agent (UDFA). His rookie season coincided with teammate Adam Thielen's final fantasy-relevant season, one of the greatest UDFA wide receivers of this century. Coker has taken a giant leap forward in his third season, averaging 14.0 points per game, just 2.2 behind McMillan. Coker has committed only one drop on 128 career targets. The soon-to-be 25-year-old (his birthday is tomorrow) can go toe-to-toe with McMillan.
Tonight's contest will either help solidify or undo the notion that McMillan and Coker are weekly fantasy starters. The opposing Packers have been a middling pass defense, giving up the 12th-most WR fantasy points, including big-time numbers from guys like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Drake London, and Justin Jefferson.
McMillan and Coker might end this season as Carolina's best fantasy duo since Muhsin Muhhamad and Patrick Jeffers in 1999. Or they might follow the pattern we've seen for 24 of the past 25 years. Tonight will offer more clues.
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This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: Thursday Night Football fantasy: Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker
