Packer Central

First-Round Receiver for Packers? Elite Prospect Emerges as Real Possibility

Could this finally be the year the Green Bay Packers use a first-round pick on a receiver. GM Brian Gutekunst got an up-close look at Arizona star Tetairoa McMillan.

Bill Huber

Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) celebrates a first down against the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) celebrates a first down against the West Virginia Mountaineers. / Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – When the Green Bay Packers last drafted a receiver in the first round of the NFL Draft, Tetairoa McMillan wasn’t quite 1 year old.

Could this be the year?

Maybe.

According to ESPN.com’s Jordan Reid, the Packers’ Brian Gutekunst was the only general manager at McMillan’s individual workout for scouts at the University of Arizona on Monday. There were no other big pro days on Monday, and USC and the Big 12 Conference had pro days on Tuesday.

McMillan is considered the No. 1 receiver prospect by most pundits, though it could be a two-man race depending on whether a team is looking for McMillan’s height and jump-ball skills or the blink-of-an-eye speed of Texas’ Matthew Golden.

McMillan didn’t go through workouts or testing at the Scouting Combine – he did those things on Monday – but he measured 6-foot-4 1/4 and 219 pounds with 10-inch hands.

“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,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said in a conference call 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 some times just on the back side 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 a stud for 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.

McMillan’s 40-yard time was about 4.50, which isn’t fast, but speed was never a concern during his college career.

“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.”

Among receivers in the draft class, McMillian used his size to rank fourth with 18 contested catches, according to Pro Football Focus. His seven drops and 7.7 percent drop rate were maybe a little high, but he forced 29 missed tackles, only one fewer than the national lead.

“I feel like people sleep on my ability with the ball in my hands,” he said at the Scouting Combine. “Obviously, everybody knows about my 50/50 balls and my catch radius, but I feel I can get in and out of my breaks well as a big receiver.”

McMillan was Arizona’s first first-team All-American since 2014. While obviously talented, Brennan talked at length about what McMillan would bring to the locker room.

“He was a player that was never on a list, never late, he never had an academic issue,” he said. “He was on point all the time. Not a single misstep in any of that. NFL teams like guys who are serious about their business. There's no question T-Mac is extremely serious about his business.”

The Packers haven’t used a first-round pick on a receiver since Javon Walker in 2002.

“I don’t think we’d ever hesitate to take a receiver in the first round if the right one was there,” Gutekunst said at the Scouting Combine. “We certainly talked about it at different times in the last seven years since I’ve been in this spot, trying to make that happen.

“So, I don’t really look at it as a philosophical thing. I will say we’ve hit on a lot of second-round receivers. There’s been a lot of guys that we’ve taken in that group that have become really, really good players for us. Not only us but throughout the league.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.