Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles Can't Wait To See Rookie WR In Pads

The Bucs may have found a steal in the third round in receiver Jalen McMillan, who is already turning heads in practice.

Buccaneers WR Jalen McMillan (15) at mandatory minicamp. Courtesy of the Tori Richman and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers /

After re-signing their own big-ticket free agents on offense in free agency the Tampa Bay Buccaneers added to an already successful offense in the draft. They addressed the trenches early on but then added three new offensive skill players to compete on the roster. One of those players was third-round rookie Jalen McMillan.

So far McMillan has been turning heads in practice. He's as smooth as they come as a route runner and has displayed strong hands coming down with almost everything throw his way. Those skills were on display on Day 1 and Day 2 of Bucs mandatory minicamp, and they caught the eye of head coach Todd Bowles.

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“He’s had a nice couple of weeks," Bowles said. "He can catch the ball – we know that. He’s a good route runner, he’s a competitor, he’s very intelligent – that impressed me the most. I can’t wait to see him in pads.”

Perhaps what was more interesting than Bowles gushing over how excited he is to see McMillan don pads in training camp was his follow-up answer when asked about how he fits into the offense. While McMillan has seen a good number of reps with the first-team offense, it sounded like Bowles may have implied he is wide receiver three right now ahead of the likes of Trey Palmer and Rakim Jarrett.

“Anytime you can get another ball catcher, route runner, and intelligent receiver," Bowles added. "He fits in well, no matter where we put him at. We’ve got a couple of guys behind him – obviously Trey [Palmer], ‘Rock’ (Rakim Jarrett) and the rest of the guys can play, as well. But, he fits in well with Chris [Godwin] and Mike [Evans].”

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Much like he did in college, McMillan is expected to play multiple positions for the Bucs. The team does a good job cross-training all of their receivers at multiple positions to give the offense flexibility and versatility to keep defenses guessing and McMillan is no exception as he learns all the roles on offense.

“He had a lot of versatility in college. He played in the slot, he played ‘Z,’ he played ‘X.’ He’s a very intelligent player. That gives us some advantages.”

With the Bucs employing more three wide receiver looks, McMillan should be in line for a big role this season if he can keep the same consistency he's shown during offseason workouts when the pads come on in training camp.

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