Alejandro Avila: Are We Really About To Hand Offensive Rookie Of The Year To An 'Okay' Receiver?

[dep]

full article cause fug them

Quote

With the 2025 NFL regular season wrapped, betting markets have essentially crowned Carolina Panthers wideout Tetairoa McMillan as the Offensive Rookie of the Year, which is a real bummer when you look back on the rookie class as a whole.

Here’s the deal …

McMillan delivered a clean campaign, finishing with 1,014 receiving yards and seven touchdowns while serving as the steady weapon of Carolina’s tepid offense.

 

 

In a rookie class defined more by "okay" than "stellar," Tet’s consistency made him the default darling of voters.

But let’s be honest … if the 2025 class lacks a true alpha, maybe the NFL should just shelf the trophy this year.

This rookie crop produced zero statistical outliers. No quarterback cracked 4,000 yards. No receiver sniffed 1,500.

McMillan’s numbers are largely the product of a Panthers team constantly playing from behind and forced to pepper its only reliable target (looking at you, Xavier Legette).

Tet earned those yards, but compared to Jacksonville’s Brian "Toilet" Jr. and his 2024 breakout of 1,100-plus yards and double-digit touchdowns, McMillan looks less like a superstar and more like a dependable employee. 

Especially now that BTJ is already popping up in 2025 trade rumors after a disappointing follow-up season in Duval.

Fans now know how fleeting BTJ’s rookie stats proved to be, so handing McMillan the Best Offensive Rookie award feels painfully prisoner of the moment.

To be fair, McMillan could still prove doubters wrong in the playoffs. Of course, that would require Carolina beating the Rams in the first round, which feels unlikely. This OutKick writer will eat his shoelaces if it happens.

Quarterbacks still rule.

If this award is meant to reflect true impact, it should go to the men under center.

In a muted statistical year, the league should reward the signal-callers who survived the meat grinder.

Giants rookie Jaxson Dart led all first-year players with 24 total touchdowns while playing for a franchise doomed from the jump by incompetent coaching and a dysfunctional front office.

Dart didn’t push New York anywhere near an NFC East title, but the difference he made was undeniable. He was good enough to leapfrog Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, which already puts him ahead of McMillan in terms of impact.

Behind a porous offensive line, Dart showed poise well beyond his years, keeping the Giants competitive on Sundays when they had no business being in the game.

New Orleans’ Tyler "Shuck" Shough also made his case late, flashing real upside.

With nearly 2,400 passing yards in just 11 games, Shough showed enough to convince the Saints they will not be shopping for a quarterback in 2026.

Franchise-potential quarterback versus a strong WR2 … you determine which matters more.

McMillan is a legitimate talent and will likely be a cornerstone in Carolina for years.

Still, handing him the award by default because his yardage total looks respectable ignores the difficulty of the quarterback position.

Volume stats should not outweigh impact. Otherwise, just keep the trophy on a shelf in the league offices until a worthy rook finally emerges.

Send us your thoughts: [email protected] / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela

is this ragebait

[Basbear]

@tukafan21 send this fool to shadow realm...

[dep]

blocked users can still interact with you? tragic web design 

[kungfoodude]

[PadresPanthersFan]

Hey Avila

[frankw]

His twitter feed reads like that of a typical attention seeking teenage edgelord but he is a grown man in his thirties. Don't give this fool clicks.

[csx]

Never heard of this person. Dont care.

[tukafan21]

This fuging fool

T-Mac putting up the numbers he did in this offense this year is closer to that 1,500 statistical outlier he's talking about this class not having than anything else.

He finished 14th in receiving yards and was one of 19 players to cross 1,000 yards in a year that was dominated by the rushing game across the NFL.  He did this in the 26th ranked passing game in the league, a team averaging just 179 passing yards per game.  

The other players to cross the 1,000 mark this year and NOT be in a Top 14 ranked passing offense and at least 218 ypg were Zay Flowers, Justin Jefferson, Devonta Smith, AJ Brown, and Wan'Dale Robinson, that's it.

He finished 7th in the NFL in receptions for 1st downs.

He finished 10th in 20+ yard plays AND 40+ yard plays.

He finished 15th in Rec TDs

He did this as an undisputed #1 WR and target on a team who frankly for the majority of the season did not have a reliable #2 weapon to take defensive attention away from him, and again, all as a rookie.  

And that's before you even get into the limitations of being in a Bryce lead offense, could you imagine if he fell to the Cowboys and they drafted him instead of trading for Pickens, who only had 1,400 yards this year.

What our guy did this year was downright remarkable and he's only beginning to scratch the surface of what he can become in this league.  He's going to get faster and more physical at the point of attack, he's going to take over and make fools like this look so dumb when looked back upon in a few years.

[dep]

5 minutes ago, csx said:

Never heard of this person. Dont care.

the site he writes for has become way more popular on twitter recently, kind of like barstool basically 

[Gipetto]

some of yall need to touch grass. Words on the internet from some random NPC is not that important

[SmokinwithWilly]

I remember a useless fat fug named Alejandro 

[rodeo]

58 minutes ago, dep said:

the site he writes for has become way more popular on twitter recently, kind of like barstool basically 

Alejandro Avila, Number 1 with Pedophiles

[hepcat]

Who? Who cares 

[uncfan888]