Tetairoa McMillan on a quest to be the first WR drafted in the 2025 NFL Draft

After a light 300-yard game against New Mexico, the Arizona receiver is on a quest to prove he's the best in the nation

Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) catches a touchdown pass against Arizona State during the third quarter at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe on Nov. 25, 2023. / Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

The 2025 NFL Draft crop of wide receivers has been seen as a two-man race between Missouri's Luther Burden III and Arizona Football's Tetairoa McMillan.

And McMillan took a massive step forward in trying to separate himself from the discussion in Arizona's Week 1 win over New Mexico. While Arizona's defense struggled to keep New Mexico out of the endzone in a high scoring affair that was tight at the half, there was no answer for the Noah Fifita to McMillan connection.

In his first game of the 2024 season and as a potential top-10 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, McMillan put on a show for the Wildcats. All-in-all, all McMillan did was rack up over 300 yards receiving and four touchdowns on ten catches. Yes, you read that correctly.

Three-hundred yards.

And what is most impressive about this performance from McMillan is that he addressed what was a weakness in his game in 2023. A year ago, McMillan did not show much after the catch when he snared passes out of the sky with his gigantic wingspan. Last night, however, McMillan racked up a massive 176 yards after the catch and forced five missed tackles in space.

To put that into perspective, McMillan had just 478 yards of YAC and 12 missed tackles in all of 2023. Through one game he is over a third of the way to that total already.

TETAIROA MCMILLAN NOW HAS FOUR TOUCHDOWNS AND 248 RECEIVING YARDS 🔥

IT'S ONLY THE THIRD QUARTER 😳 pic.twitter.com/WD7u2uTluc

— ESPN (@espn) September 1, 2024

The Wildcats have another tune-up game next week before taking on another top-20 opponent in the Kansas State Wildcats. That game will likely come down to how dominant McMillan can continue to be along the boundary for his quarterback and the Arizona football team.

In their first season in the Big 12, McMillan and the Wildcats will have a gauntlet to work through in the month of September with Utah after Kansas State. However, there is a reason many have picked them to win the Big 12. If they can get to October with a clean slate, they do not have a ranked opponent on their schedule the rest of the way out.

Can McMillan lead the Wildcats to the College Football Playoffs this year on his pathway to being the top wide receiver selected in the 2025 NFL Draft?

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