Will this be the year the Green Bay Packers spend a first-round draft pick on a receiver? All three of the top receiver prospects have visited, including Arizona star Tetairoa McMillan.
GREEN BAY, Wis. – With the first round of the NFL Draft nine days away, the Green Bay Packers are getting one last exposure to Arizona receiver Tetairoa McMillan.
According to CheeseheadTV’s Aaron Nagler, the Packers brought in McMillan for a predraft visit on Tuesday. McMillan is arguably the No. 1 receiver prospect in the draft class and would fill a major need for the Packers.
The visit comes on the heels of Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst attending McMillan’s individual pro day last month. He was the only general manager present.
Added together, that’s an enormous amount of interest and heightens the possibility that the Packers will draft a receiver in the first round for the first time since Javon Walker in 2002.
That was one year before McMillan was born.
There are three receivers who could be options for Green Bay, whether it’s with the 23rd pick of the first round or some Round 1 maneuvering.
One is McMillan, who at 6-foot-4 1/8 and 219 pounds would bring a Drake London-style skill-set.
The second is Texas’ Matthew Golden, whose 4.29 speed in the 40 made him the fastest receiver in the class.
The third is Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka, who is neither supersized or super-fast but is super-polished.
All three have visited Lambeau Field.
McMillan is the No. 1-ranked receiver in the class, according to The Athletic’s Dane Brugler. He is the No. 3-ranked receiver, according to NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah.
McMillan didn’t go through workouts or testing at the Scouting Combine but measured 6-foot-4 1/4 and 219 pounds with enormous 10-inch hands. At the pro day attended by Gutekunst, he ran his 40 in 4.53 seconds. That was the only testing so he did not qualify for a Relative Athletic Score.
The intense interest in the first-round receiver prospects is a hint that the team believes the receiver corps, which played so well down the stretch in 2023 without a so-called No. 1 receiver, could use a high-impact player. Not only did the group underperform last season but Christian Watson will miss the first half of the season, give or take, following a torn ACL.
With great size and surprising run-after-catch ability, McMillan has No. 1 receiver skills.
“He’s got unbelievable body control with hands to go play above the rim – red-zone weapon, Drake London-esque, a real, real smooth mover,” Jeremiah said in a Zoom call with reporters before the Scouting Combine.
“The size is outstanding. The body control and ball skills are as good as you’re going to see. There were times just on the backside of routes, I don’t really see him busting it all the time. I’d like to see that just be a little bit more consistent and competitive with each rep in that regard. But, man, someone who can play above the rim in a big, big way. [Coaches would] have some fun with him, especially down in the red area.”
McMillan was dominant all three seasons at Arizona. As a freshman in 2022, he led the conference with 18.0 yards per catch. He followed that with 90 receptions for 1,402 yards (15.6 average) in 2023 and 84 receptions for a Pac-12-high 1,319 yards (15.7 average) in 2024. His three-year totals were 213 receptions, 3,423 yards, 16.1 yards per catch and 26 touchdowns.
“T-Mac is something different,” Wildcats coach Brent Brennan said at McMillan’s pro day.
While he doesn’t have game-breaking speed, the size makes him an enormous matchup problem and changes the math on 50-50 balls. He caught 18-of-30 contested-catch opportunities, according to Pro Football Focus.
“His movement, his short-range quickness, his catch radius is totally unique,” Brennan added. “Totally unique. I’ve coached hundreds of them and I’ve coached a lot of NFL players, too, but he’s unique.”
For his career, he scored 12 touchdowns on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield.
“That’s a testament to my basketball, my volleyball background,” McMillan said
Moreover, he forced 29 missed tackles, one off the draft-class lead held by Missouri’s Luther Burden and San Jose State’s Nick Nash.
“I feel like people sleep on my ability with the ball in my hands,” McMillan said at the Combine. “Obviously, everybody knows about my 50-50 balls and my catch radius. But I feel like I can get in and out of my breaks as a big receiver, and ability with the ball in my hands.
“People look at me as a big receiver, which I am. I’m physically dominant. But, at the end of the day, I’m able to run every route in the route tree. I’m able to play inside or outside, and I feel like a lot of people, a lot of teams are sleeping on that right now.”
Every player has weaknesses. Brugler mentioned his “passive run blocking” and NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein noted how his routes sometimes lack “urgency.” There’s also a video in which he said he doesn’t like to watch film.
At the Combine, though, he sold his competitiveness and desire. That could be the one box the Packers are looking to check with this extended meeting.
“I’m just a super-competitive person, ready to play the best in the world,” he said at the Combine. “We’re always chasing greatness. So, at the end of the day, the motto I live by is great, not good. At the end of the day, I want to be one of the best to ever play this game.”