The Carolina Panthers enter 2026 with plenty of moving parts, but one thing looks far less complicated: Tetairoa McMillan.
There are real reasons to squint at the roster. The defense should be better after the additions of Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd, but the backfield is unsettled and injuries are already piling up on both sides of the ball.
On offense, the uncertainty runs deeper. The Panthers still don’t know who will emerge as RB1, Bryce Young is under heavy pressure to produce, and a reshaped offensive line now has to hold up with a rookie starting at right tackle.
Even with all that noise, McMillan stands out as the player Carolina can count on.
The second-year receiver out of Arizona was one of the few steady forces in the offense last season and has already established himself as a legitimate No. 1 option. PFF’s season preview for the Panthers singled him out for exactly that reason, noting that among rookie receivers in 2025, McMillan posted the highest grade at 79.2.
That number backed up the production. McMillan finished with 70 catches, 1,014 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns, then capped the year by winning Offensive Rookie of the Year.
He also carried the kind of workload that tells you how much the Panthers leaned on him. Carolina’s WR1 ended 2025 with 126 targets, twice as many as any other receiver on the roster.
That usage should only continue in 2026, especially with rookie receiver Chris Brazzell II out for the season. There really isn’t another path here: McMillan has to keep seeing the ball.
If Young and the offense are going to move forward, No. 4 is the engine. McMillan should line up both outside and in the slot, serving as a dependable target underneath while still bringing the big-play punch that made him so valuable in the first place.
A realistic step forward would be something in the neighborhood of 80 to 85 catches, 1,200 to 1,300 yards and 10-plus touchdowns. McMillan is already viewed around the league as a top-20 receiver, and if he makes the leap into the consensus top 10, that could end up being a huge piece of Carolina’s push to repeat in the NFC South.
In Other News...
Former Panthers Center Cade Mays Hit With Another Tough Setback
Cade Mays first season in Detroit has hit a rough patch, with the former Panthers center now dealing with a wrist injury after signing a three-year contract with the Lions this offseason. The setback is another difficult turn for a lineman who has been trying to carve out a bigger role after stops with Carolina and the Giants, and it immediately puts his availability in question for a good stretch of the season.
Dan Campbell said Mays will miss a significant amount of time, and the injury is serious enough to sideline him for about eight to 10 weeks. There is still a path back later this season, but not anytime soon, which leaves the Lions to shuffle their center depth while Mays works through another frustrating interruption in what was supposed to be a fresh start. [Read more 🡒]
Bryce Young Got Caught Up In Panthers Camp Tension
Training camp was bound to get a little chippy eventually, and it did on Aug. 10 when Bryce Young found himself in the middle of a physical altercation after a play in which safety Lathan Ransom went after running back Jonathon Brooks. The exchange pulled in cornerback Mike Jackson and an offensive lineman, turning one snap into the kind of sideline dust-up that tends to grab attention even when it barely registers as more than camp heat.
Nick Scott brushed it off as the sort of physicality that comes with a competitive practice, and head coach Dave Canales offered the same broad view of the day, calling it physical and competitive without getting into the specific play that set things off. For the Panthers, the bigger takeaway is less about a scuffle than the tone around it, with camp intensity already showing up early as players push through a practice setting where tempers can rise as quickly as pads start popping. [Read more 🡒]
Bryce Young Is Giving Panthers Fans A Reason To Believe Again
Bryce Young has made training camp and the early preseason feel a little different around the Panthers, mostly because he looks more comfortable and more decisive than he did a year ago. The improvement has shown up in the way he is carrying himself and in how the team views him, with Carolina treating him as a quarterback on the rise even though his game snaps have still been limited.
The next chance to see more of that progress comes in Buffalo, where Young is expected to get a larger workload in the preseason game. For a Panthers team still sorting out its long-term picture under center, every additional rep matters, especially with no second contract talk yet and more time still needed before the front office has to make any major calls. [Read more 🡒]