The race to “start the quarter of the franchise” to “Bended Bush” at “Sauveur” is a solid arc on a whole career; Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold both reached station 3 last year. In Caroline, however, Bryce Young Speedran through all stations in a single season. After the first round of the draft Thursday evening, it is clear that the Panthers triple on the potential of Young, yet another rebound in the most scutching quarry career in the NFL.
With the eighth choice of NFL 2025 draftPanthers have selected the Large Tetairoa McMillan of Arizona receiver. McMillan himself is a defensible and potentially exceptional choice. He projects like a WR1, and Charles McDonald of Yahoo Sports gave the Panthers a B To add the “depth and talent of the depth” of McMillan to the list. The choice Apparently exasperated cowboys Micah ParsonsWho wanted the receiver to n ° 12, and each time you pick someone below, you have done well.
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The question about McMillan is: was it the right choice for panthers as a franchise? Here is why. The Carolina Panthers 2024 were, by an objective measure, the worst defensive team in the history of the NFL. Last year, Carolina granted 534 points – almost 32 per game – during the year, worse than any team. Never.
Yes, the 17 -game season is an important factor here. In addition, Carolina did not say that the average point record per allowed match – the 2-14 Baltimore colts of 1981, with 533 authorized points, still has this beauty, at 33.3 points per game. However, it is a semantic detail; There is no way to put lipstick on the pig for a season of last year.
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So why, with defensive talents in the first quality round always on the board of directors, did Carolina repeated her 2024 strategy and took a wide receiver in the first round? Why let Georgia Walker fall into the hands of the Divisional Rival Atlanta a few choices later?
“The guy is a baller”, the head coach of the Dave Canales Panthers Said of McMillan. “There is a simple way to watch it. Watch the film, and the balls arise. And they make games in great moments and they always seek to do something special.”
Canales added that he expects McMillan to bring different skills on the field of the first round in 2024, Xavier Legette, who has always appeared Raw and Dropy in his recruit season, or the veteran Adam Thielen and the second year receiver Jalen Coker.
“You have as a current basketball team,” Canales said Thursday. “There are different attributes. Xavier Legette, the power and the speed it brings, (Adam) in Thielen's know-how, we saw Jalen Coker occur last year. Tet, all of a sudden, brings this very long target 6-4 to complete the group. It is a really cool group to think.”
Even if Caroline's panthers need defensive aid, they went with the Large Tetairoa McMillan of Arizona receiver to provide Bryce Young another weapon. (Photo of Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
(Stacy Revere via Getty Images)
At the heart of all this, however, man is responsible for obtaining them the ball. Young struggled at the start of last season, set up the bench for several games, then returned invigorated. Certainly, Carolina went 5-12 in 2024, but the panthers won two of their last three, so … Progress?
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Young and McMillan played against each other in high school in California, and according to McMillan, the QB intensified for him in the offices of the panthers.
“He just told me that he was sitting on the table for me, entering Morgan's office), entering the office of the Canales coach, and really sitting on the table with me and saying to them:” Hey guy, we have to choose this guy “,” said McMillan after being chosen. “So, even if I feel like I did what I had to do to be in the position, I give credit to Bryce to guarantee me and, finally, to take my chance.”
Panthers have eight remaining choices, including two in the fourth round and three in fifth. It is a marked improvement compared to last year, when Caroline had no choice of first round thanks to the agreement with Chicago which brought them young in the first place. Carolina began to improve her defense via a free agency – Frank Schwab of Yahoo Sports gave the Panthers a B For their defensive commercial trip – and will surely repair the holes during the remaining two days of the draft.
McMillan, meanwhile, has a large setting and excellent hands, which go well with the established precision of Young. According to most of the accounts, he was the best rated receiver in the draft, and he will have the opportunity to grasp the WR1 work for himself. Carolina's question is not if it is a good choice, it is if it was the right choice. The dashboard will make this verdict sooner.
