Patriots draft profile: Tetairoa McMillan is a vacuum receiver

The New England Patriots made some investments at wide receiver this offseason while also retaining all of their top options at the position from a year ago. But while they do have plenty of players available, there is still a need to be filled: the Patriots lack a reliable, long-term option on the outside.

There are several players in this year’s draft fitting of that description, including previously-profiled Matthew Golden, Jayden Higgins, Tre Harris or Elic Ayomanor. All of them are potential targets for the Patriots, but so might be arguably the WR1 among them: Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan.

Hard facts

Name: Tetairoa McMillan

Position: Wide receiver

School: Arizona

Opening day age: 22 (4/5/2003)

Measurements: 6’4 1/8”, 219 lbs, 77 7/8” wingspan, 31 1/2” arm length, 10” hand size, 4.53s 40-yard dash, N/A Relative Athletic Score

Experience

Colleges: Arizona (2022-24)

Accolades: First-team All-American (2024), First-team All-Big 12 (2024), Polynesian College Football Player of the Year (2024), Second-team All-Pac 12 (2023), Third-team All-American (2023)

A three-sport athlete at Servite High School in Anaheim, CA, McMillan also was a member of the Friars’ basketball and volleyball teams. On the football field, he was a highly-productive wide receiver who was named first-team all-state as both a junior and senior, and eventually rated a four-star recruit. As such, McMillan drew interest from several high-profile schools, eventually committing to Oregon.

However, he later flipped to Arizona and former Patriots assistant Jedd Fisch. Even though he spent only three years with the Wildcats, McMillan became one of the most productive receivers in school history. Appearing in 37 games with 34 starts, he is leaving Arizona ranked first all-time in receiving yards (3,423), third in touchdowns (26) and fourth in catches (213). Additionally, he was named to two All-American and All-Conference teams each.

Coming off an 84-1,319-8 campaign that saw him lead the Big 12 in receiving yards, McMillan decided to skip his senior season in Tucson to enter the NFL Draft. Appearing at the Scouting Combine, he met with the Patriots’ staff and later also took a visit to New England.

Draft profile

Expected round: 1 | Consensus big board: No. 10 | Patriots meeting: Combine + 30 visit

Strengths: Measuring over 6-foot-4 and 219 pounds, McMillan is a tall and long wide receiver who knows how to take advantage of his physical attributes. He has some of the best ball skills in the entire class, combining a large set of hands with the proper length, hand-eye coordination and body control to high-point, shield off, contort and/or expand his catch radius to make even contested and inaccurate passes turn into higher-percentage plays. He also knows how to attack the football on comeback routes.

McMillan had a contested catch rate of 49.4 percent at Arizona, but saw that number improve each season until reaching a career high of 60 percent in 2024. He also finished with a drop rate of only 3.5 percent despite being a volume receiver that was targeted 341 total times as a Wildcat. McMillan is a vacuum receiver: he sucks the ball in as soon as it comes in his vicinity.

Besides being impressive at the catch point, McMillan also is a surprisingly fluid athlete given his stature. His start and stop skills for a player this size are rare, and they allow him to shake free from tackle attempts; his 29 forced missed tackles were tied for third among FBS receivers in 2024. And even though his 4.53-second speed does not make him a burner at the position, his buildup speed and long stride allow him to get to his landmarks on time either as a vertical threat or on underneath patterns.

McMillan also has displayed some good awareness and nuance as a route runner. Offering a natural feel for finding soft coverage spots and positioning himself down the sideline, he is a quarterback-friendly wideout beyond being an inaccuracy eraser: he can stay alive on extended plays and scramble drills.

Weaknesses: As evidenced by his 42 percentile 40-yard dash, McMillan is not the most explosive of players; his burst, acceleration and agility are nothing special and it takes time for him to reach full speed. That does not disqualify him from stressing defenses deep, but it puts more pressure on his release packages when faced with press-man coverage. McMillan also would stand to benefit form adding more muscle to his frame to be competitive in such situations and to also become more efficient as a run blocker.

Patriots preview

What would be his role? Despite his combination of size and ball skills, McMillan is not the pure X-receiver he appears to be at first glance. Instead, he is more of a Z/X hybrid who could also serve as a big slot. He will likely be used depending on the personnel on the field and the coverage scheme and personnel employed by the opponent. Independently of all that, he would also become New England’s top perimeter weapon right out of the gate — a player capable of coming in and contributing in a meaningful fashion even as a rookie.

What is his growth potential? As outlined above, McMillan has several areas he has to address at the next level. His ability to do so will decide his NFL fate, but at the very least he should become a starter-level player with WR1/2 potential depending on the team around him.

Does he have positional versatility? Within the context of the wide receiver position as a whole, McMillan is a reasonably versatile player. He can split out as an X, play off the line as a Z, and move into the slot, all while having the elusiveness to be a zone beater as well as the ball skills and length to beat man-to-man coverage. He also has a handful of returns on his résumé, but his special teams value is marginal at best.

Why the Patriots? Earlier in the offseason, Mike Vrabel spoke about what he is looking for in a wide receiver: “Receivers that have great catch radius, that can create separation, that are good against contested catches,” he said at the time. Sounds familiar? Not only is McMillan checking all those boxes, he also would help address one of the biggest remaining needs on the team, namely a receiver who can attract coverage especially on the perimeter.

Why not the Patriots? New England has some pretty big needs it has to address in this year’s draft, and if the decision comes down to it the team might prefer picking an offensive lineman over McMillan in Round 1. In addition, they also may not like what he has to offer in terms of his projected role and skillset as well as his still-developing ability to separate on a regular basis.

One-sentence verdict: After yet again missing out on Tee Higgins in free agency, the Patriots might just end up drafting their own version of him.