2025 Rookie Profile: WR Tetairoa McMillan (Fantasy Football)

The NFL draft has a way of swinging like a pendulum regarding position players. Last season, we had a myriad of choices when it came to pass catchers and few stellar options when it came to RBs. The talent seems to have swung in the other direction this year, with tons of the RB variety. 

But don’t you worry; there is still some WR talent in them there hills. More specifically, the hills surrounding the University of Arizona and Tetairoa McMillan. McMillan, often called T-Mac, was born in Hawaii and moved to California with his family when he was 12 years old. But T-Mac is not the best nickname the Polynesian phenom has. He is often called “Nalo,” which is short for Waimānalo, a community on Oahu where McMillan was born. Nalo is officially translated as “drinkable water,” but if you ask McMillan what it stands for, he will tell you, “Negative Attitudes Lose Opportunities.”

Editors Note: This article is part of our Rookie Profile series going on until the 2025 NFL Draft. For more on each rookie, check out Andy, Mike, and Jason’s exclusive rookie rankings and production profiles found only in the Dynasty Pass, part of the UDK+ for 2025.

McMillan attended Servite High School in Anaheim, California, and was a five-star recruit coming out of high school, where he had an incredible career. McMillan was Servite’s 2022 Athlete of the Year, earning nine varsity letters over multiple sports during his high school tenure. He set new Servite career records for receiving yards, receiving TDs, and receptions while setting the single-season and single-game record for pass receptions.

It wasn’t just in sports that McMillan excelled. He graduated early and ultimately enrolled at the University of Arizona with a 4.23 GPA, earning Principal’s High Honor Roll all seven semesters.

College Production Profile

McMillan was a 5-star recruit who headed to Tuscon, Arizona, with his high school teammate and QB Noah Fifta. He was the highest-ranked recruit to attend U of A and set multiple records there during his tenure. McMillan had the most receiving yards by a true freshman in franchise history in 12 games (702) and eight starts in 2022. In the first game in 2024, he broke the program record for receiving yards in a game with 304 and was a Biletnikoff Award finalist and Polynesian College Football Player of the Year in 2024. 

Measurables

McMillan did not test at the NFL Combine, so we only have his official measurements. He is expected to attend the Big 12 Pro Day, which is scheduled for March 18-21.

What’s on Tape

Games Viewed: Washington (2022), USC (2023), Utah (2023), ASU (2023), New Mexico (2024), Kansas State (2024), Colorado (2024)

1. Traditional NFL size and build.

McMillan is a big boy. Standing tall at 6’4” he has the range to go up and simply outsize an NFL defender. He weighed in at 219 lbs, but even though when you see his measurables, you may imagine a clunky pass catcher, McMillan plays with the grace of a smaller WR, fluidly running his routes and beating coverage. Look, we know size isn’t everything, but we cannot deny it is something. 

With the height comes the propensity of more TDs. Exhibit A, Mike Evans. Evans is of similar height at 6’5”, and although he has more density to his frame than McMillan at 230 lbs, we all know the patented Evans TD catches – they almost always are him stretching out those long limbs to snatch the ball out of the air. McMillian also uses his big body well and moves like he belongs on an NFL field. Nothing about him seems clunky or out of whack – he looks fluid.

That height served him well in college. During his final year at the University of Arizona, McMillan had 30 contested targets, catching 18, which was tied for the second-highest number in his draft class. He was a former high school basketball and volleyball player, which aided him well as he used his arms to box out defenders and position himself to catch the football. He has an incredible catch radius.

Tetairoa McMillan UNREAL TD

(via @CFBONFOX) pic.twitter.com/8IW8H2Js8d

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 16, 2024

2. A versatile pass-catcher.

McMillian is not just a downfield threat who is there to win on endzone 50/50 balls, he excels in all levels of the game and on the field. His target depth distribution never played favorites in every year he was at school. During the 2024 season, 42% of his targets were between 0-9 yards, but the medium and deep target depths were moderate as well, with just over 28% and 23% respectively. McMillian knows how to win at all levels of the field, and this is a skill that will translate strongly to the NFL. Those deep targets can be sexy, but to truly be an asset to your team, you must be trusted in the short and medium levels of the field.

He was used more out wide at Arizona, with 78% of his snaps there, as opposed to 22% in the slot, but he lined up all over the formation in college. With his fully blossomed route tree, he was able to win at every spot and on every kind of route.

3. Solid at catch point and after… a true Alpha WR.

McMillian is strong and dependable after the catch, and can snag the ball out of the air, while his inner monologue is saying something like “this is mine!” He then has the luxury of using that big body to break tackles to clock some additional yardage. He has a solid YAC, boasting 430 yards during his 2024 college season. But it isn’t just his mass he uses after the catch. He has elite timing, knowing when to zig, while a defender zags, and this manifests itself in a fluid manner rarely apparent in such massive WRs. 

So athletic, so explosive, so fluid for a WR that’s 6’5”.

Tetairoa McMillan is unfair. pic.twitter.com/3UnX7l1VIN

— Jon Helmkamp (@JonHelmkamp) September 1, 2024

No matter how much we talk about having a talented group of pass-catchers on a team so the QB has options to spread the ball around, the concept of an Alpha WR1 cannot be denied. How often have the guys chatted about the Chargers and their offensive weapons, to end the conversation with, “but they are just a WR1 away”? McMillan is that Alpha WR. When the Wildcats needed a first down, they went to McMillan – he had 55 during his final year, which was the fourth most out of WRs in his draft class. He had eight of the team’s 10 TDs on the season, and ran a receiving route on 459 of his on-field snaps. 

McMillian has shown consistent growth over his three years in college, and finished his final season at Arizona with a 44% dominator rating.

What’s Not On Tape

1. No top-end speed.

McMillan has impressive talent that will translate very well to the NFL, but he doesn’t win with speed. The speedy CBs in the NFL will have no problem catching McMillan on his downfield routes, as he sometimes has issues finding separation. McMillan wins the deep balls with his body and his fluidly run routes, not his speed. He is slow to separate from defenders, and he is lucky that he is the size he is to compensate.  The question will be tossed around – can he get open consistently against NFL defenders?

This chatter is reminiscent of the concerns of another elite WR prospect – Drake London. In 2022, Marvin Elequin wrote that one of the things not on tape for London was “initial separation on deep routes.” However, we all know that London ended up doing okay in the league, at least so far, and I believe that McMillan can make it work too. These concerns could have been squashed with a speedy 40-yard dash at the 2025 NFL Combine, but T-Mac chose not to participate.

No 40-yard dash or drills for T-Mac at the Combine

— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) February 28, 2025

 

This is a great example of McMillan’s lack of all-out speed. In the game against New Mexico, he made a fantastic catch, but he should have been able to turn on the gas and burn the defender on the way to the end zone.  His top-end speed looks labored, and he was almost run down.

Some insane stats around Tetairoa McMillan’s big Week 1:

– 30.4 yards per catch
– 80% of catches went 10+ yards
– 50% of catches went 20+ yards
– TD grabs of 69, 17, 79, and 40 yards
– Only 8 players since 2010 with more single-game receiving yards.

pic.twitter.com/4rYd1mNz3j

— Oliver Hodgkinson (@ojhodgkinson) September 5, 2024

2. Leadership, dedication, and the brains to go along with it.

After their solid 2023 season, Arizona HC Jedd Fisch left the desert to take the head coaching job at the University of Washington that Kalen DeBoer had just vacated. It would have been easy for McMillan to follow him to the Pacific Northwest; the Huskies had just come off of an extraordinary year, and although Arizona was improving, the grass did look greener elsewhere.

McMillian chose to stay at U of A with his close friend and QB, Fifita, who he had traveled to Arizona with in the first place. The two continued their solid connection in the 2024 season, even though it did not lead to an overall great season for Arizona. The Wildcats finished the year 4-8, with the second-fewest redzone attempts among FBS schools. This dedication is a quality that cannot be taught. It is the quality an NFL team wants in its WR1, and they will get it in McMillan.

McMillan may not have tested physically at the NFL Combine, but he did take the AIQ test, which helps to measure the cognitive skills relevant to sports performance. He aced it.

Arizona WR and projected top pick Tetairoa McMillan has been invited to the NFL Draft in Green Bay, per source.

Here’s something interesting: McMillan posted the highest AIQ score — an advanced cognitive tool used in the pre-draft process — of any WR in this year’s class. Just… pic.twitter.com/XLWUAC4UA7

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 2, 2025

 Fantasy Outlook

In a draft with few top-end WRs, Tetairoa McMillan should be the first WR off the board, depending, of course, on whether Travis Hunter is considered a WR to the team that drafts him. McMillan profiles to be an alpha, and his talent mixed with draft capital makes him a strong fantasy asset. The chatter surrounding McMillan as a prospect seems to have chilled slightly as of late, and it isn’t clear exactly why. If an NFL team can take advantage of this and grab him a little later in the draft, they will be quite fortunate.

I remember when people questioned if Drake London could get open consistently as a prospect…

I’m hearing the same worries at times for Tetairoa McMillan…

I’m not worried about Tet.

His fluidity, excellent start/stop ability, & strength at the catch point will all…

— Derek Brown (@DBro_FFB) February 20, 2025

According to NFLMockDraftDatabase.com, Dallas, New England, Carolina, and Las Vegas are the most common landing spots for McMillan. If he went to Dallas with the 12th pick, the combo of CeeDee Lamb and McMillan could be fun to watch with Dak Prescott healthy again and back under center. The Patriots would be interesting – McMillan would clearly be the WR1 there, but there is no denying that the protection for Drake Maye needs to improve. Their best bet would be to pass on McMillan this season to beef up the line. In Carolina, he could build a connection with Bryce Young and they could grow together, under Dave Canales, who coached a similar WR archetype in Mike Evans in Tampa Bay. Finally, with the addition of Geno Smith in Las Vegas, the Raiders look like a better spot than a week ago, but I cannot imagine good old Pete is done adding old Seattle buddies to the roster. 

However, looking at team needs, I see McMillan being a great fit in New Orleans, who picks at nine. The guys discussed it on the FootCast, but WR Chris Olave is a big question for the Saints, coming back from his injury, and past him the team is looking at Rashid Shaheed and MVS as options. T-Mac could find a solid home in New Orleans as the WR1.