2025 NFL Draft: Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan Scouting Report

The Arizona playmaker could be the WR1 in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Welcome to scouting report season. These reports will be my main form of content for a bit, but I’m hoping to ramp back up with other content soon.

The reports will include trait-by-trait breakdowns, a summary of the player’s skill set, and a rough round grade at the bottom.

Tetairoa McMillan Scouting Report

Route Running

McMillan is a smooth route runner with a diverse package of routes from different spots on the field. He’s much smoother than someone of his size should be when getting out of breaks, allowing him to win on double moves and whip routes consistently. He can effectively run digs, nines, crossers, comebacks, outs, drags, out and ups, and whips.

McMillan’s nuance to vary his cadence and use head fakes to widen safeties on seam routes shows up quite a bit. He’s not overly sudden or great at snapping off breaks, so he could come out of cuts a little rounded. 

Contested Catch Ability

His catch radius and strength at the catch point are above average. He’s made some impressive circus catches through contact when competing above the rim. I did feel like he wasn’t as good when attacking the ball through contact in front of his face. Still, his ability to win downfield on 50/50 shots is one of his best traits. 

Separation

McMillan isn’t a natural separator with elite speed or quickness. He’s smooth out of breaks, and he can take some cornerbacks off guard who aren’t expecting a 6-foot-5 receiver to move like he does. He understands how to separate with physicality, but corners who can match him in that area could make his life quite hard. 

Ball Skills

As mentioned above, McMillan can make impressive catches. He doesn’t have the longest arms in the world, but his ability to attack the ball at its highest point and work through contact makes him a stalwart. 

Beating Press

McMillan has some good skills to work with but needs more seasoning. His size can make him difficult to bully at the LOS, and he’s capable of swiping away cornerback’s punches well enough. His inside release vs. press is good, but he can struggle to get clean releases when trying to run vertical routes. Although he’s strong, some cornerbacks were able to get into his frame and bully him further down the field. 

YAC Ability

This won’t be a strength of his game, but he did get better in this area. McMillan’s vision in the open field stands out, and he’s slippery in tight spaces. He can break a few tackles to pick up an extra five yards or so and eat up open space, but he won’t create explosives on designed touches. 

Ball Tracking

All things considered, this might be his best trait. McMillan’s ability to high-point the football with excellent timing and from different body positions is uncanny. He can contort his frame to deal with contact and reach way outside the normal catch radius. He’s excellent at coming back to the ball, as he won’t wait for underthrown passes to arrive. 

Long Speed

Calling McMillan slow doesn’t feel right, but he’s not a burner. He has build-up speed, as he just kind of glides down the field and can create some space that way. I’m not expecting McMillan to run a bad 40-yard dash time, but I will be slightly concerned if he does.

Versatility

This is probably one of the more underappreciated parts of McMillan’s game. Although he’s built like a typical X-receiver, he’s much more than that. McMillan’s work as a power slot is impressive, and I imagine some will view that as his best spot in the league. McMillan’s route tree is also diverse for a college receiver — he runs NFL routes and isn’t a manufactured touch merchant. He can produce at all three levels of the field.

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Final Word on McMillan

McMillan projects as a low-end WR1 or high-end WR2 at the next level. He’s a solid route runner with a diverse route tree and the size to win downfield in contested situations. He’s much quicker than he should be for his size and has worked to improve his YAC despite that never being an overwhelming strength of his game. 

I do worry about his overall physicality sometimes, as some cornerbacks got into his frame and pushed him around. While I think he’s a good route runner, there are some reps where his lanky frame makes his breaks a little too clunky. I’m also not 100% sold on his long speed being good enough to separate vertically. 

Still, McMillan has all the tools to operate as an outside X-receiver at a high level. He’s also played many reps from the slot, where he was a deadly mismatch weapon. Some NFL teams might even view that as his best spot early in his career so he can develop the finer points of his game. 

Round Grade: Late 1st

Player Comp: Drake London, WR, Falcons