The Panthers had a decent draft, building along the defensive line (both their second-day picks and a fifth-round pick went to the defensive line or edge) while reforming their offensive outlook with Tet McMillan at eighth. That’s also the long and the short of fantasy-relevant players in this draft class for Carolina, as the other three players they took will prove to start their career as depth pieces, though Trevor Etienne does have a path to limited relevance. Let’s look at all their fantasy football-eligible pieces from the 2025 NFL Draft!
| Rd | Pick | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 8 | Tetairoa McMillan | WR | Arizona |
| 2 | 51 | Nic Scourton | DE | Texas A&M |
| 3 | 77 | Princely Umanmielen | DE | Ole Miss |
| 4 | 114 | Trevor Etienne | RB | Georgia |
| 4 | 122 | Lathan Ransom | S | Ohio State |
| 5 | 140 | Cam Jackson | DL | Florida |
| 5 | 163 | Mitchell Evans | TE | Notre Dame |
| 6 | 208 | Jimmy Horn Jr. | WR | Colorado |
Round 1, Pick 8: Tet McMillan, Wide Receiver, Arizona (6’4″, 219 lbs)
The following is an excerpt from the Round One Fantasy Football Rookie Round Up
TALENT:
Travis Hunter is the flashier receiver in this class, but Tet McMillan is quietly the best all-around receiver in this class. Whether you need a receiver who wins deep with contested catches or one who can work back on underneath routes to get open, McMillan is your man. Some try to pigeonhole him as a “possession receiver,” but he was a possession receiver because he would take possession of the football if thrown his way. He maximized his radius, catching footballs all over his vicinity, frequently bailing out quarterback Noah Fifita on terribly off-kilter passes. Tet has elite ball skills and can contribute immediately wherever he ends up, as he works at all three levels on offense.
He dominates in all aspects of being a receiver, except that he isn’t all that creative of a runner after the catch. Still, his athleticism, instincts for the ball, and natural ability to juke defenders with a simple bag of tricks made him a great receiver in college and will make him a great receiver in the NFL.
NFL Comparison: Drake London
Pre-Draft Grade: Top-Ten
2025 OPPORTUNITY:
Depth Chart:
WR1: Tet McMillan
WR2: Adam Thielen
WR3: Xavier Legette
WR4: Jalen Coker
WR5: David Moore
WR6: Jimmy Horn Jr.
McMillan immediately becomes the best wide receiver on the roster. That’s not hard when the other options are a 35-year-old, a sophomore gadget player, and Jalen Coker. There’s a lot of opportunity to be had here, as Bryce Young threw the ball 32 times per game after his benching last year, with most of those going to Thielen. While defenses will key in on McMillan, he is good enough to get open underneath to be the primary target for Bryce Young in his third season. Young hopefully takes another step forward in Dave Canales’ offense this season, which will give Tet a chance to thrive.
2025 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
If a team takes a wide receiver in the first ten picks, then they plan to use him as much as humanly possible. With Tet McMillan, I don’t see much changing. I’m not too worried about the quarterback situation, as his best comparison (Drake London) produced similar results in his rookie year (72/866/4) with a bad quarterback. Tet will see those numbers as a good starting point, but something closer to 85/950/6 feels more like his sweet spot. If I can get him as a speculative WR4 in 12-team leagues, then I’ll be doing a backflip.
Round 4, Pick 114: Trevor Etienne, Running Back, Georgia (5’8″, 198 lbs)
TALENT:
Trevor Etienne has a lot of moves, but if he goes up against a stout defensive front, they don’t matter all that much. Texas destroyed him in the 2024 SEC Championship mainly because they were able to wait out his spins and jukes and stop him with sound tackling at the line of scrimmage. Georgia worked around this by using a lot of screen passes and runs off the edge, allowing Etienne to utilize his speed and maximize his yardage. While he had the game-winning touchdown in the SEC Championship Game, I would not rely on him to get the hard yardage. He maximizes outside blocking but struggles mightily going up the middle. He would be best suited as the lightning side of a thunder and lightning running back duo.
NFL Comparison: Ameer Abdullah
Pre-Draft Grade: 7th Round
2025 OPPORTUNITY:
Depth Chart:
RB1 Chuba Hubbard
RB2 Jonathon Brooks (injured)
RB3 Rico Dowdle
RB4 Trevor Etienne
Etienne has a long climb ahead of him to steal significant touches in this running back room. Chuba Hubbard silenced the haters (it’s me, I’m haters) last season, finishing with over 1,350 total yards on 293 touches, and 11 touchdowns. Jonathon Brooks will (eventually) back him up, with Rico Dowdle mopping up in the meantime. Etienne has a chance to supplant Dowdle as Hubbard’s backup until Brooks returns, giving him a narrow path to value (passing Dowdle, Hubbard suffers an injury, and Brooks’ injury recovery slows). Ultimately, he likely finishes his rookie year as a real-life depth piece.
2025 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
We saw Ameer Abdullah worm his way through a depth chart to find relevance, so I wouldn’t rule anything out. However, it took three months for Abdullah to return value, so I am not looking to draft Etienne anywhere.
Round 5, Pick 163: Mitchell Evans, Tight End, Notre Dame (6’5″, 241 lbs)
TALENT:
Mitchell “Clamps” Evans has one remarkably carrying trait: the man will not be denied the football. He’s extremely physical at the catch point, and he maximizes his massive radius to pluck balls out of the air, even with defenders draped all over him. Evans then takes those defenders and carries them a few yards before going down. He also runs a variety of routes and will be a high-floor NFL player for years to come.
Evans is also one of the weirdest-looking runners I’ve seen in this class, on the “Aiden Hutchinson runs like Waluigi” level of looking uncomfortable while running the football, with insanely tight hips. He’s suffered multiple season-endangering lower-body injuries (broken foot, torn ACL), so perhaps I should not bemoan the feeble.
Still, Evans’ clamps intrigue me, though not much else in his profile does, especially since his blocking isn’t anything to write home about.
NFL Comparison: Pat Freiermuth
Draft Round: 5th Round
2025 OPPORTUNITY:
Depth Chart:
TE1 Tommy Tremble
TE2 Ja’Tavion Sanders
TE3 Mitchell Evans
Evans has an opportunity to turn this depth chart on its head, as I am not a Ja’Tavion Sanders believer, and Tommy Tremble is yet to prove that he is anything more than a net neutral in the passing game. Evans has the potential to impact the depth chart significantly. Ja’Tavion Sanders’ performance doesn’t fully convince me, and Tommy Tremble has yet to demonstrate that he’s more than a neutral presence in the passing game. However, there are a lot of pass catchers outside the tight end depth chart that take precedence over Evans for 2025.
2025 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
We haven’t seen a day three rookie tight end have fantasy football value yet; that does not change with Evans.
Round 6, Pick 208: Jimmy Horn Jr., Wide Receiver, Colorado (5’8″, 174 lbs)
TALENT:
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before this draft cycle: Jimmy Horn is a fast but undersized wide receiver who lacks play strength and has questionable long-term viability due to these issues. Horn has above-average hands, but he is not a refined route runner. He’s primarily a slot receiver who can work well as a rotational WR3 to take the top off of the defense while allowing others to feast underneath.
NFL Comparison: Isaiah McKenzie
Pre-Draft Grade: UDFA
2025 OPPORTUNITY:
Depth Chart:
WR1: Tet McMillan
WR2: Adam Thielen
WR3: Xavier Legette
WR4: Jalen Coker
WR5: David Moore
WR6: Jimmy Horn Jr.
Jimmy Horn is in Carolina as a depth piece and something for the future, after Adam Thielen and David Moore move on. He’s a good target downfield for Bryce Young’s development, but he likely tops out at 40 targets this season at best. It’s far more likely that he starts the season as a special teamer or on the practice squad than it is that he cracks the rotation in a significant way.
2025 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Horn is barely relevant in five-round rookie drafts (and I won’t be taking him there). He’s not relevant in redraft leagues.
