The Carolina Panthers were targeting a defensive player with the eighth pick in the NFL Draft last year. At least that what’s most observers thought.

It was a reasonable supposition for a team that owned the league’s worst defense in 2024, when the Panthers became the fourth team in history to allow 3,000 rushing yards and set a dubious record by giving up the most points in a 17-game season.

Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham and Georgia linebacker Jalon Walker were frequently linked to the Panthers in mock drafts. The Panthers had interest in Graham, and the team was high on Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen until late in the pre-draft process, according to sources.

But behind the scenes, general manager Dan Morgan also had his eye on Tetairoa McMillan, the Arizona wideout who led the Big 12 with 1,319 receiving yards in 2024 — 61 more than Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter.

Morgan had drafted a receiver in his first year as GM, but Xavier Legette had struggled with drops and field awareness as a rookie. Plus, there’s a difference between taking a wideout — or any other position — with the 32nd pick versus drafting one in the top 10.

After the Panthers selected him, McMillan revealed he’d caught passes from Bryce Young during a throwing session in southern California before the draft. McMillan told reporters Young “sat on the table” for him with Morgan and coach Dave Canales following their workout.

Morgan didn’t need a lot of convincing: He had spoken glowingly of McMillan to colleagues early in McMillan’s junior year at Arizona. But the Panthers wanted to keep their options open in case a highly rated edge rusher fell to them or a team wanted to trade up, which happened when the Los Angeles Rams called about moving up from 26.

But the trade didn’t materialize and Morgan moved quickly to McMillan, who was the WR1 from Day 1 and went on to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, the first Carolina player to do so since Cam Newton in 2011.

As the Panthers prepare to pick 19th this year, The Athletic spoke to the team’s top decision-makers, two of McMillan’s college coaches and his private receiving coach about a process that included a personal pro day, a visit to Charlotte and the workout with Young before ending with McMillan presenting team officials hand-made leis from his native Hawaii.

A T-Mac oral history:

McMillan arrived at Arizona in 2022 as the highest-ranked recruit in the Wildcats’ history. He was joined in Tuscon by Noah Fifita, his high school quarterback at Servite, the L.A.-area school where ex-Panthers center Ryan Kalil played. After McMillan caught 90 passes for 1,402 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2023, Arizona coach Jedd Fisch left for Washington, sparking speculation that McMillan and Fifita would follow him to Seattle.

But they remained at Arizona under new coach Brent Brennan, whose first game was a 61-39 blowout of New Mexico in which McMillan had 10 receptions for a school-record 304 yards and four touchdowns.

Brennan: “I had been on the job for two days and they both pull me into the office and told me they were gonna stay. It was just this incredible moment. And then we had this big announcement at a basketball game. We were playing UCLA and sometime in the first half, we had our whole team out there and they announced that they were coming back. And the basketball arena just went absolutely nuclear. It was really, really cool.”

Panthers VP of football operations Brandt Tilis: “We watched his film several times. It was all very good. But Dan was very convicted, like way early, like late September. For me, I’ll watch these guys and I’ll give my opinion based on what I know and what I don’t know. And usually what happens is you’re convicted about a guy in September and then your conviction becomes a lot less in November and then you kind of settle in wherever he ends up (on the draft board) in the spring. And T-Mac didn’t go that way. When that happens, it’s usually a good thing. From my vantage point, I’m afraid of late risers. That was not T-Mac.

Morgan: “You watch the tape and you get super excited about some guys, and other guys you maybe don’t love. But I would say he’s one of the guys you just turn the tape on and you’re like, I’m not gonna overthink this.”

Tilis: “He had that 300-yard game. And (Morgan) said, ‘Hey, did you see that Arizona receiver had a 300-yard game?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, so what was that, a bunch of bubble screens?’ He was like, ‘No.’ (Laughs) He said, ‘And it might not have even been his best game of the month.’ ”

McMillan caught 84 and 90 passes in his final two seasons at Arizona — he had eight receptions for 161 yards in this game vs. Texas Tech — and totaled 18 touchdown receptions. (Aryanna Frank / Imagn Images)

McMillan posted an 11-catch game against Kansas State two weeks after going for 300 in the opener. He added a 202-yard effort in October in a loss to West Virginia, part of a stretch that saw Arizona lose seven of its final eight games. But McMillan was a star, breaking the school’s career receiving yardage record and making highlight-reel catches in games and practices that would go viral on social media. Besides his hands, scouts loved McMillan’s size — he measured 6-4 and 219 pounds at the combine — and route running.

Canales: “The comment I made was, ‘Well, he’s always gonna be 6-4. That’s an advantage.’ So if you’re looking at him and you’re like, ‘Well, I don’t see great top-end speed,’ or, ‘I don’t see dynamic run after the catch,’ it’s like, he’s always gonna be a reliable target because he’s always gonna be 6-4 and has route craft.”

Fisch: “Physically, he’s probably the most gifted pass catcher that I’ve ever been around. So people are always gonna talk about his hands. What I always said about T was, he was the best athlete on the field every game, every day. And he was also one of the greatest kids that I’ve ever been around. I mean, my wife and daughters flew to Hawaii to be a part of his draft-day party. He was a special part of our family.”

Brennan: “He was just totally unique. I played receiver and I’ve been a receiver coach my whole career. And I had just never seen anybody that was that big that could transition breaks and get in and out of cuts with as much power and as much fluidity as he had. And then his catch radius was extreme. It was just a lot of fun because you really felt like any time you threw him the ball he was gonna come down with it.”

Canales: “The best ones have early feet. Their feet are positioning what to do after they catch it based on where the defender’s approaching. They’re kind of getting their lower half in position so when they catch it, there’s immediacy to their transition. … That uncanny ability to manipulate his body before he’s even caught the ball allows for extra yards, more first downs — friendly football for us.”

McMillan was what scouts considered a “clean” prospect, with no glaring character concerns, off-field issues or medical red flags. With one exception: During the lead-up to the draft, a clip surfaced of a McMillan interview in which he said he didn’t watch game film. It became a talking point, and not just in the media. Teams called McMillan’s old coaches to see if it was true.

Morgan: “There was some negative reports that came out on him about him not watching film. But I think that’s why we do our homework. We talk to these guys all the way up to the week of the draft. We’re digging on them and trying to figure these guys out, because you can’t just take one person’s opinion.”

Fisch: “That was the question. That was about the easiest answer you could possibly give, which was: The guy, I don’t think in two years he made a mental mistake, that I can think of. He spent probably an hour to an hour and a half every day with our wide receiver coach leading up to practice. They watched as much film as anyone together. I installed the offense and called the offense with the wide receivers and quarterbacks. He was always in there. He’s really a brilliant kid. He didn’t even have to take a lot of notes, and he would very rarely make a mistake if ever. And then he would call me out on something if I didn’t say it right. I never worried about him and his work ethic, that’s for sure.”

McMillan met with teams at the combine but didn’t participate in drills. He also skipped the Big 12’s pro day in Dallas in favor of his own private workout for scouts on March 17 in Tucson, where he ran the 40 in a reported 4.48 seconds and caught passes from Fifita. Area scout Colton Chapple was the only Panthers’ official at the pro day, with Morgan having seen all he needed of McMillan on film.

McMillan pulled in passes from a different quarterback two weeks later at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, Calif., where a number of NFL players and prospects train in the offseason. Former NFL wideout T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who coaches receivers during the offseason, helped set up the initial March 31 session attended by both Young and McMillan.

Houshmandzadeh: “Bryce was just like, ‘Man, let me know when you guys are working out again. I’m gonna come throw to him.’ So he throws to him and he just liked him. So he was just like, ‘When are you guys gonna work out again?’ I said, ‘You let me know when you work out and I’ll make sure he’s here.’”

Morgan: “It played a little bit of a role. It’s another piece of information that you otherwise wouldn’t get. Bryce just so happened to be working out with him. He told me that he was working out with him. Obviously, I was like, ‘After the workout give me a call, let me know what he looked like.’ I just remember him being like, ‘Yeah, he’s pretty damn good.’”

Houshmandzadeh: “When you draft Bryce Young No. 1 and then you turn around and draft X (Legette) in the first round, you know you’ve gotta get him weapons. So T-Mac for me was a no-brainer with the Panthers. I felt like he was the best receiver in the draft. I told everybody that. There’s a lot of people that didn’t think he was gonna be pretty good. I felt like if you wanted Bryce to have success, you’ve gotta get him a receiver that is gonna win and get open. And that was T-Mac.”

McMillan came to Charlotte for a “30” visit on April 10, two weeks before the draft in Green Bay. He made a great impression.

Canales: “We spent about 20 or 30 minutes in my office just talking about life in general. I always go through my process — I wanna hear this person tell me their story to understand who they are, where they come from, where they’re at and where they’re going. And also to see if they can perceive the hardships that they’ve overcome and why, because that’s where grit comes from. A belief that when things get hard, I can overcome (because) here’s what I did to find excellence and success against odds. That personal belief part? He checked those boxes.”

Morgan: “He fills the room up. Some guys, they walk in the room and they blow you away and some guys carry a smaller presence. I just remember when he walked in and I looked up, I just looked at him physically and was just like, ‘Damn, this is a big dude.’ And then you get to talk to him and he’s just super confident, telling you his goals, what he wants to accomplish in the NFL. And it wasn’t fake. You could tell he really meant what he wanted to become.”

McMillan had two 100-yard receiving games with Bryce Young and caught seven TD passes as a rookie. (Bob Donnan / Imagn Images)

Canales: “Talking to T-Mac was like talking to my best friends that I grew up with (in Carson, Calif.). I grew up with a lot of Polynesians — Black, Mexican, Polynesian, Filipino. So, it’s a very multicultural and diverse area that I come from. There’s a swag about guys in my neighborhood and guys that I grew up with and played ball with that T-Mac has. Even just the way that he dresses, the way he cuts his hair, it’s just like so familiar to me. In another life, we would’ve been boys.”

Morgan: “We brought him in for a 30 visit. We did Zoom calls with him. The more you understood his personality, understood what he was about, the more you felt comfortable with who he is. I don’t necessarily want a guy that’s gonna come in and tell you everything you want to hear. Some of the best players I’ve been around are guys, they’re not agreeable. They’re guys that had a chip on their shoulder and that’s just who they are.”

After talking through a lot of different scenarios the week of the draft, Morgan arrived at Bank of America Stadium on draft day locked in on McMillan. Two possible exceptions: in the unlikely event Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter fell out of the top 5 or the Panthers traded back.

Canales: “The whole week before, back and forth with a couple of guys. And the closer we got to the day, the more good pressure we were putting on ourselves for, but who is going to bring us something special, that is going to be a significant advantage for us? And he was the guy.”

Houshmandzadeh: “I’m just under the assumption that (Young) went to the powers that be, meaning Dan Morgan and Canales, (and) they got it done. I talked to a couple people within the org prior to, so I kinda had a feeling. But it’s the draft. You just never know. But I had a feeling that’s what they were gonna do.”

Morgan: “I think the room could tell that my mind was in that direction. I remember telling Mr. Tepper, I think it was the morning of the draft: ‘Can’t pass this guy up. We’ve gotta get this guy.’”

The New York Giants took Carter with the third pick and Graham went to the Cleveland Browns at 5. When running back Ashton Jeanty went off the board at 6 to Las Vegas and Armand Membou at 7 to the Jets, the Panthers were on the clock with McMillan available. Then the Rams called, wanting to trade up from 26. After the Panthers asked for what Tilis described as a “significant” return, the Rams called back with their answer.

Tilis: “The part that I’ll remember for the rest of my life is we’d been working on this trade with the Rams. And we were waiting for an answer, like yes or no. And usually when the decision happens, you usually have an exhale, like, all right, are we sure we’re gonna do this? So I hang up the phone and said, ‘They’re out.’ And Dan just turned to Claire (Stokes, the manager of player personnel) and he goes, ‘T-Mac, go.’ It was crazy. Like I’ve never seen that.”

Brennan: “They kept it under wraps. There were lots of other teams, even two other teams that called me on draft day and told me they were gonna trade up for him. But obviously he ended up exactly where he’s supposed to be and we’re all really proud of him.”

Houshmandzadeh: “Before it happened, I probably told everybody in the house T-Mac’s getting drafted (at 8). He hadn’t gone. And the Panthers — you don’t draft a quarterback No. 1 and not give him what he needs to be successful. That’s just not smart. And Dan Morgan played the game at a high level, and he knows what he’s doing. Dan showed that. And look, you get the Rookie of the Year out of it.”

McMillan received 41 of 50 first-place votes for OROY, capping a season in which he led all rookies with 70 catches and 1,014 receiving yards. Nearly a year after the two hooked up last offseason, McMillan and Young were back at Golden West, joined last week by Carolina receivers Legette, Jalen Coker, Jimmy Horn and John Metchie.

While Young and his teammates were in SoCal, Morgan, Canales and Tilis were with David Tepper at the NFL owners’ meetings in Phoenix. During a break at the Arizona Biltmore, Canales sat down for a 30-minute interview that included questions about the drafting of McMillan. Canales paused when asked whether there were any players the Panthers would have taken over McMillan had they fallen.

Canales: “That’s speculatory. I don’t wanna say anything. (Laughs) Oh, no, it was always him. That’s it.”