Arizona Wildcats Star Tetairoa McMillan Lands With Intriguing Team in Mock Draft
Arizona Wildcats fans have been preparing for months that the 2024 campaign would likely be the last for star wide receiver Tetaiora McMillan in Tucson.
Recently, to no one’s surprise, he made that official as he declared for the 2025 NFL draft.
McMillan has accomplished a ton during his time with the Wildcats, cementing his status as one of the best pass catchers in the nation year in and year out. This past season, despite no other part of the offense consistently operating at a high level, he still dominated.
In 12 games he caught 84 passes for 1,319 yards and eight touchdowns.
To put into perspective how good those numbers are, the next closest on the team was 39, 323 and three.
That is incredible output considering he was the No. 1, 2 and 3 focus of opponents all season long. Despite everyone keying in on stopping him, he still got the job done.
Now, he is off to the NFL, where he has all of the tools to develop into a legitimate No. 1 receiver.
He has already drawn some comparisons to Drake London of the Atlanta Falcons and Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for his combination of size, route running and ability to dominate at every level of the field.
The only question is, how high in the draft will he go?
Some analysts believe that he is a near-lock for the top 10.
The only wide receiver who is ranked ahead of him on big boards is Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter of the Colorado Buffaloes, who plays both wide out and cornerback.
Things can always change between now and April when the draft is held, but for now, McMillan looks like he will be among the first players to hear his name called.
Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic also believes that will happen.
In a recent mini mock draft covering the first 10 picks, the analyst has McMillan coming off the board at No. 8 to a surprise team; the New York Jets.
That could be a tough landing spot for the Arizona star depending on how the offseason shakes out for the franchise.
Right now, they do not have a general manager or head coach in place, so figuring out what direction they might take is an impossible task.
How the roster looks now will almost assuredly not be how it looks in a few months.
On top of that uncertainty, no one knows who will be playing quarterback for the team in 2025, as there are a lot of rumors swirling about the future of Aaron Rodgers.
The Jets would be far from the ideal landing spot for him unless they find stability at quarterback and open up playing time at his position with Davante Adams and Garrett Wilson still under contract.
