The Carolina Panthers might have just landed a future superstar in Tetairoa McMillan, and no one was more excited to meet him than the guy who’ll be tossing him dimes next season, Bryce Young. However, when the two finally linked up at the team facility for the first time, exchanging some friendly greetings, fans couldn’t help but notice something pretty interesting.
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It must feel wonderful to be the QB of a team that drafts a wide receiver in the first round. That’s exactly how Young was feeling today when he got to meet McMillan for the first time.
However, it wasn’t Young’s dap to McMillan or the warm hug they shared that became the talk of the town. It was that the QB didn’t seem as short as usual. McMillan stands at 6 feet 4 inches, yet Young wasn’t far from eye level with the former Arizona receiver.
Young stands at 5 feet 10 inches tall, making him the shortest starting QB in the NFL right now, alongside Kyler Murray. But in the video, he appeared only a few inches shorter than Tet. Naturally, fans flooded the comments to share their reactions to the surprising height disparity.
“Did Bryce get taller?” someone asked. “Tet does not look 6 inches taller than Bryce,” another penned.
Did Bryce get taller?
— Keep Purring Podcast (Ben) (@KeepPurringBen) April 25, 2025
Others pointed out how juiced Young seemed to have McMillan on his team as he paced over to greet his new receiving option.
“Bro, y’all see how fast Bryce walking? He happy,” they wrote. “He wasn’t smiling like that for XL last year,” another commented.
The “XL” in question is, of course, Xavier Legette, the Panthers’ first-round selection from last season. While Legette had a solid rookie campaign, posting almost 500 yards receiving and registering 4 touchdowns, McMillan is coming in with much higher expectations.
Being a lottery pick, most of us are expecting Tet to come in and gel with Young right away. He should easily win the job as the number one wideout. In his final season at Arizona, he led the BIG 12 in receiving yards with 1319. The season before, he posted over 1400 yards. Tet is a dominant receiver who wins routes downfield to get open regularly.
All in all, it was a great pick by the Panthers, and Young seems thrilled to have a new receiver to throw to. But now the question becomes, can Young stay protected for long enough to get the ball to McMillan downfield? Also, is McMillan shorter than the height he’s listed at?
Pocket protection was a massive issue for the Panthers last season, and if Young doesn’t have a good offensive line, a flashy wide receiver isn’t going to help much.
Furthermore, Carolina didn’t draft an offensive lineman, meaning they will have to address it through free agency and trades. So, while the Young-McMillan connection is exciting to think about, it might not be in full force until the Panthers can get their QB some protection. Seems like they’re still in the rebuilding phase over in Carolina, but they’re getting close.
