NFL Draft film room: Tetairoa McMillan the gigantic YAC monster

Diving into what the wideout could bring to Las Vegas

If the top two quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft aren’t available with the sixth overall pick, the Las Raiders could pivot toward taking the top wide receiver in the class, Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan.

McMillan had an excellent three-year career with the Wildcats, logging 213 catches for 3,423 yards and 26 touchdowns, including 84, 1,319 (led the conference) and eight this past season.

A big portion of his production comes after the catch as he posted the fifth-most YAC (430) among Big 12 receivers and tied for the third-most missed tackles forced (29) in the country last fall, according to Pro Football Focus.

What makes the wideout unique in that regard is he’s listed at 6-foot-5 and 212 pounds. As one might expect for someone of that size, he’s also impressive on contested catches to help round out his game. So, let’s take a look at what the Arizona product could bring to the Raiders.

In addition to the numbers above, McMillan also averaged 5.1 YAC per reception in 2024, which is a good figure but the lowest of his career. The year before, he logged 6.0 YAC per clip and had 537 yards with the ball in his hands, per PFF.

The former Wildcat is the complete package after the catch. He has a great feel for where defenders are, even with his back turned to the defense, impressive vision to find and exploit lanes in the secondary, some shiftiness to make defensive backs miss, and the strength to fight through contact or tack on extra yards with a stiff arm.

This helps add branches to his route tree as McMillian can be used on shorter routes and still be a threat to move the chains.

As previously mentioned, McMillian is also impressive on contested catches as he ranked tied for fifth among FBS wide receivers with 18 last season, per PFF. That was also four more than any other Big 12 wideout, and he hauled in an impressive 60 percent of contested targets.

There are two primary reasons why McMillan excels in this area beyond his size. One, he’s a “hands-catcher” with strong hands to hold onto the ball against contact, which the last two clips above highlight. Two, he does a good job of high-pointing the ball in the air. Combined with his height and arm length, the latter gives him a significant advantage as he can go up and get balls that most defensive backs won’t be able to reach.

This trait can be a quarterback’s best friend because it makes it easier to throw the ball where defenders can’t get it while still completing the pass and means the wideout is open even when he’s covered.

While the Arizona product isn’t the most explosive out of the cut to consistently maximize separation, he does have some savviness as a route runner to help get open. That’s seen by using his shoulders to sell one route and push cornerbacks vertical, attacking a corner’s blind spot or finding and sitting in holes against zone coverage.

The second route above is one of the best examples, even though it’s an inaccurate pass and an incompletion.

McMillan does a good job of keeping his shoulders at the same level throughout the route and pressing the defensive back to get the DB to play the vertical route. Then, McMillan breaks toward the corner for a couple of steps and gets in the defender’s blind spot to create about five yards of separation on the comeback route.

With an on-target pass, this is would be an explosive play.

This is more nuanced but the way McMillan works back to the ball is impressive. Especially on curl routes, he’s consistently coming down his stem and toward the quarterback.

That’s another way to help maximize separation, especially when you’re not terribly explosive and are taller, impacting your short-area quickness. Also, it helps prevent defenders from being able to make a play on the ball through the receiver’s back, and makes the throw easier for quarterbacks as they can miss or aim the ball lower.

As referenced above, probably the biggest area of concern for McMillan is he isn’t a great separator. That could make it difficult for him to constantly get open in the NFL as he’s reliant on deception and winning at the catch point, which casts some doubt about his ability to be a true No. 1 receiver at the next level.

However, the big-bodied wideout has several tools and traits that can’t be taught, making him an option for the Raiders if the organization feels it can help make him more explosive at the top of routes.