Watching Tape With Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan

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Watching Tape With Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan

Doug Farrar · Athlon Sports

Fri, Feb 6, 2026 ·

11 min read

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SAN FRANCISCO — There are times when, as an AP voter for everything from the All-Pro team to Most Valuable Player to Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year, the vote in question is pretty obvious.

That was the case for Carolina Panthers receiver Tetairoa McMillan , who was crowned as the Offensive Rookie of the Year during the NFL Honors awards on Thursday night. And while there were other worthy entrants, McMillan's inaugural NFL season left little doubt as to his bona fides in that category.

And in this case, the voting wasn't close.

McMillan caught 75 passes on 126 targets in his inaugural NFL season for 1,095 yards and seven touchdowns, and he was a major part of a Panthers offense that helped the team make the postseason for the first time since 2017, and the eighth overall pick in the 2025 draft is ready for more — and better.

I spoke with McMillan on Thursday (just a few hours before he was given the award) on behalf of Sharpie, the iconic pen and permanent marker brand, as he continues to "leave his mark" on and off the field. We also watched tape of three of his best plays in the 2025 season, and he was happy to sign off on those, as well.

Doug Farrar: Let's start with your rookie season overall. You came in, high expectations, and you matched and exceeded them. What was it like in that college-to-NFL transition?

Tetairoa McMillan:I feel like it was a lot easier than most people think. At the end of the day, it's just football. I was just playing a game that I love. I had a lot of good coaches and a lot of good players that led me along the way. It made the game a lot easier for me.

DF: Bryce Young , who's made so many developmental steps in the last couple of years, what was it like playing with him as your quarterback?

TM:It's funny how the world works. I grew up watching him in high school. I was fortunate enough to play him in high school, my high school rival.

DF: He was a rival?

TM:In high school, yeah.

DF: Oh, wow. I didn't know that.

TM:We played each other in high school [McMilla nplayed at Servite High School in Anaheim, California; Young played at Cathedral High School in Los Angeles and Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California]. Now, full circle moment, we get to play with each other in the league. It's a blessing, man. I'm excited to see what the future holds for both of us.

DF: You're here for Sharpie. Tell me about the part of the promotion where you're handing it off to ( Notre Dame running back) Jeremiyah Love .

TM:Last year, I was the Sharpie Rookie of the Year. This year, I'm fortunate enough to pass the pen to the newest Rookie of the Year, which is Jeremiyah Love, arguably one of the best players in his draft class, probably the best running back in his draft class. I'm sure that he'll make the Sharpie name very good.

DF: I have to ask you about brand ambassadorship. I don't know if you're familiar with what Terrell Owens did in 2002 against the Seahawks, where he pulled a Sharpie out of his sock after scoring a touchdown, and signed the football . Are you interested in doing that sometime?

TM:I've seen that.

DF: It might be a penalty, but it would really be good for the brand.

TM:It would be great for the brand, but it wouldn't be good for my bank account. We get fined for that.

DF: That's true.

TM:I don't know if that would be a great idea.

DF: We're going to walk over here and watch some game film.

22-yard TD vs. Buccaneers, Week 16

DF: You've got a 1x3 formation here. You're the X-Iso receiver, as you should be. Up against Jamel Dean , one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL. Usually, he doesn't get repped like this, but just walk me through your technique here. You're so good with contested catch stuff, and this is one example. Walk me through this rep and what your technique is, what your route is, what you're looking at him for, what are his indicators, and stuff like that.

TM:I had a go ball. It's basically a Cover-0 check. They weren't covering zero here. I knew I was getting the ball. I saw him with inside leverage, so I wanted to attack his leverage a little bit more, give Bryce a little bit more space on the sideline to throw me the ball. Bryce threw a good ball, and we made a play.

43-yard TD vs. Rams, Week 13

DF: All right, this is you and receiver Xavier Legette running crossers. This is just devious, man, because it's kind of a rub, too. You're up top, right up here. That's Legette [at the bottom of the screen]. You've got motion, too. So right here, you guys are crossed over, and there's that little rub element, [cornerback Emmanuel] Forbes is right there, that little check right there, and then Forbes is trying to chase you, and you're like, no, I don't think so. I think I'm going to go score a touchdown.

So just the route coordination, can you talk about that with those crossers? Because this is really cool, the way you kind of set them up. Everything is in the middle, and it's this sort of confusion all over the place.

TM:I can't tell you how many times we ran this play over and over in practice. I was getting sick and tired of running this play, and I was hoping to never run it again. It was a fourth down play, so a big conversion for us.

I was actually trying to get X [Legette] open, but Bryce throws it based off where the high safety goes, like what player the high safety goes to. So he saw that the high safety went to X, so X was double-teamed, and I was the single man.

Bryce is reading the safety the whole time. He's just like, I'll pick my guy, whichever. It's such a great play design because bang, right there, it's like, nope. Bryce did a good job of throwing me up the field, and I just had to make sure I go finish it as it is.

DF: Time to score a touchdown.

40-yard catch vs. Cardinals, Week 2

DF: On this last play, I loved how you and Bryce played it together. This was the second regular season game you had together, but I loved the coordination of this play. I believe you're down here with Hunter Renfrow.

TM:Yep.

DF: What I love about this is the timing and the coordination of it. So you beat your guy. You got Budda Baker up here. [Bryce has] got to throw that in a really tight window. Let's watch the end zone angle because this is really impressive to me. And this, I mean, again, second regular season game, you guys were synced up so well already.

I'd like to walk through just the timing of this. Did you guys rep this a lot? It's right there. I mean, that's a tight window, and it's got to be so well-timed for him to do that.

TM:Yeah, I mean, the quarterbacks in this league are so good. They make ridiculous throws, and, you know, Bryce is one of those guys. Bryce is so good at throwing over the middle. And he threw it in between the hashes. That's where the big plays happen.

DF: It's out right there. So it's that anticipation throwing, too, because he's throwing it just as you're coming out of your break. A lot of quarterbacks don't do that very well. But he's got that locked in, and then you're just gone.

TM:Yeah, no, he threw it right between the hashes. He has great anticipation. And, you know, I had to try to get as much yards as I possibly can. We didn't have any points on the board at the time, so I got to make sure we got in that red zone.

DF: Is there a play I didn't include that's your favorite play of the season?

TM:No, those are pretty solid. Pretty good plays.

DF: So, you guys took a lot of steps up last season. You want to continue that. Say you want to be in Super Bowl LXI. Of course, you'd love to be. What do the Panthers need to do in order to get there?

TM:Shoot, honestly, we just got to be consistent. You know, I feel like our record should have been a lot better this year. We should have won a lot more games. There's a lot of games that we gave up that we shouldn't have given up. We've just got to be consistent.

We've got to learn how to play full games. We've got to learn how to finish, and start the game fast. So we just had an inconsistent season, and it still worked out for us. We still won the division. We still were able to make the playoffs for the first time in seven years. But, you know, I feel like there's a lot more in store for us. We can definitely do a lot as a team.

DF: A lot is expected of you, the number one-receiver, the X-Iso guy. I mean, that's who you are. To get to that Justin Jefferson , Ja'Marr Chase , that sort of level — what do you need to do to keep up in your game?

TM:I would just say playing through contact. You know, I haven't been able to get the luxury of calls that I was able to get in college. So I have to earn my stripes around here still. Just playing through contact, playing physical, and just knowing what I can and can't do.

DF: I want to ask you about the Seahawks team because you played them, and you had one catch on four targets for five yards. If the Patriots were to call you up and say, all right, I need a scouting report on Seattle's defense, how would you detail why this defense is so tough?

TM:Oh, man, they're just a tough, physically sound team. You know, they've got good pieces over there. They've got people who can take away one side of the field. They're really good at taking the ball away. They fly around, very physical, very tough. I mean, they're a pretty solid defense, man. And, you know, the Patriots will have a tough time, but, you know, vice versa as well. I feel like the Seahawks will have a tough time with that Patriots defense.

DF: They're really good. No one's talking about how good that Patriots defense has been in the playoffs.

TM:I mean, I've been fortunate enough to play both teams this season.

DF: Yes, you have. And you did well against the Patriots early on, but that defense has gotten better.

TM:No, they're really good at taking the ball away. They have two long corners on each side of the field. They fly around. They play with a lot of heart, a lot of grit, and, man, they're just super-scrappy.

DF: You had that rep against [Seahawks safety] Julian Love where he was in the slot, and he pulled off and got your outside route. Were you expecting that? Was it kind of a disguise thing, or can you kind of walk me through how that play happened?

TM:Shoot, I mean, that was kind of the coverage that we were expecting. You know, it was kind of a miscommunication. At the end of the day, it's football. He made a great play, and hats off to him.

DF: Well, we're looking forward to seeing more of your great plays in the 2026 season.

TM:I hope so. Appreciate you. Thank you very much.

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Feb 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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