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Tetairoa McMillan enters his second season as the top receiver in Carolina's offense, and the depth chart confirms it: he is the clear top target for quarterback Bryce Young, who is entering his third year running the show. Last season McMillan played in seventeen games and started all seventeen, holding down 87.2% of the offense's snaps, a workload that speaks to how much the coaching staff trusts him on early downs and in the passing game alike. The volume followed: 122 targets, 70 receptions, and a catch rate of 57.4%. Through one game in 2026, he has kept that role intact, playing 82.4% of the snaps and drawing eight targets, five catches, and 75 yards. Nothing about the early sample suggests a change in usage. He is still the receiver Bryce Young looks for first, and Chuba Hubbard's presence as the primary back and Jonathon Brooks behind him means the running game exists, but it has not eaten into McMillan's target volume. There is no established tight end on this roster pulling looks away from him either. For a passing offense that leans on one dominant outside receiver, this is about as secure a role as exists in the league.]},{
The case for McMillan starts with target volume and target quality. A player seeing 122 looks in a season, with fifteen of them coming in the red zone, is being used like a true focal point regardless of what the box score says about efficiency. Seven touchdowns off that red zone work last season shows the offense trusts him to finish drives, not just accumulate yardage between the twenties. His yards per reception of 14.5 in 2025 and 15 through the first week of 2026 indicate he is not merely a possession receiver picking up short completions; he is pushing the ball downfield and doing damage after the catch. The case against him is built on efficiency and context. A 57.4% catch rate on that much volume last season points to inconsistency, whether from contested-catch situations, quarterback accuracy, or route execution against tighter coverage. His 12.4 PPR points per game got him to a finish of sixteenth at his position, respectable but not elite, especially given the raw target count that produced it. The bigger swing factor is Bryce Young. A receiver's ceiling is capped by what his quarterback can consistently deliver, and Young's track record does not yet include a season of sustained accuracy or explosive play at a level that turns a heavy target share into a truly special receiver season. If Young struggles with turnovers or inconsistent decision-making, McMillan's catchable-target rate could remain a limiting factor even as his raw volume stays high. The counter to that concern is simple: volume this substantial tends to produce fantasy value even through inefficiency. A receiver getting 122 looks a season, with real red-zone involvement, is going to have weeks where the offense simply funnels enough opportunity his way that the touchdowns and catches show up regardless of the passing game's overall polish. His one-game finish of thirty-sixth at his position this season is a single data point and not a trend, especially since the underlying share of targets and snaps held steady. What matters more than one week's finish is that Carolina has built its passing game around getting him the ball early and often, and there is no indication Chuba Hubbard's workload or any tight end usage is siphoning off those chances. The honest read is that McMillan is a target-earner in an offense still finding its rhythm through Bryce Young. His talent and role support strong weekly floors built on volume, while his ceiling in any given week depends heavily on how well Young distributes and how consistently he finds him against tighter coverage looks.
McMillan belongs in fantasy lineups as a regular starter, not a situational flex play. The volume alone, 122 targets and fifteen red-zone looks last season, plus a snap share north of 87.2% in 2025 and 82.4% already in 2026, is too substantial to bench in favor of speculative alternatives. He is Carolina's clear top receiving option, and that role has not wavered through the first game of this season. Managers should treat him as a weekly starter in standard and PPR formats alike, with the expectation that his floor comes from target share and his ceiling comes from red-zone involvement and catches. The counter-argument, that his catch rate of 57.4% last season and one game finish of thirty-sixth at his position this year signal inconsistency, is worth taking seriously but should not be a reason to sit him. Efficiency concerns tied to Bryce Young's development are real, but volume like this usually wins out over a full season. What would change this evaluation: a sustained drop in his target share, a shift in offensive philosophy toward the run game led by Chuba Hubbard, or clear evidence that Bryce Young cannot consistently get him the ball in scoring position. Barring that, McMillan should stay locked into lineups as a core piece of any fantasy roster built around receiver volume.
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