Tetairoa McMillan capped his historic rookie season with the Carolina
Panthers on Thursday night when he was named the Associated Press
offensive rookie of the year. The award was announced during the annual
NFL Honors presentation.

McMillan is the first Carolina Panthers player to win the award since Cam Newton in 2011.

The receiver put together an impressive resume by any means, but one
that also led rookies in nearly every major category. He finished with
70 receptions for 1,014 yards, both numbers that led all rookies, and
his yardage was 14th in the entire league, while hauling in seven
touchdowns, which was the most receiving touchdowns by a rookie this
season.

A total of 27 of his 70 catches were explosive receptions (16+
yards), which are the most explosive receptions and explosive plays by
an NFL rookie this season. McMillan also caught seven passes on fourth
down, six of which produced first downs for Carolina. Among all NFL
players, he finished the season tied for the most catches on fourth down
and totaled the most explosive receptions on those six receptions, with
five.

McMillan’s 55 total receiving first downs led all rookies and was tied for 7th league wide.

He had a pair of 100-yard receiving games, and he registered a catch
in all 17 games. He was the NFL Rookie of the Week when he caught three
passes for 29 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-27 victory over Dallas in
Week 6.

The Arizona product was named rookie of the year by 50 electors from
across sports media, as selected by the AP. He beat out finalist Tyler
Shough (QB, Saints), Jaxson Dart (QB, Giants), Emeka Egbuka (WR,
Buccaneers), and TreVeyon Henderson (RB, Patriots).

McMillan played 87.18 percent of the Panthers’ offensive snaps this
season, the most amongst all five finalists, and was the only finalist
to start all 17 regular-season games. He was responsible for 20.18
percent of the offense’s production, the most of any non-quarterback
finalist, making highlight-worthy plays and touchdowns to help send the
Panthers back to the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

His quarterback, Bryce Young, felt confident at the end of the season that McMillan would be going home with the hardware.

“TMac, he was him,” bragged Young of his top receiver at the end of
the season. “He was, he’s exactly who he’s been. He was elite; he’s a
special player. He’ll be the offensive rookie of the year.”

McMillan was a heavy favorite to win the award for much of the year,
but shared earlier this week that while the possibility of the award was
on his family’s mind before his rookie year even began, he purposely
stayed focused on the season ahead, putting any final stats out of his
head.

“Whatever came was going to be a blessing to me,” McMillan said.

Now that includes one of the most prestigious awards in the sport,
honored as the best of the best amongst the NFL’s 2025 rookie class.