What Steve Smith got right - and wrong - about Panthers wide receiver corps

Even though he was one of their best options at one of their greatest positions of need, the Carolina Panthers ' selection of Tetairoa McMillan in the first round of last weekend's NFL draft came as a surprise.

For one thing, the Panthers were almost universally expected to pick Jalon Walker, who was still on the board.

For another, making another big investment at wide receiver after taking one in the first round last year represented a major change from the way the franchise usually does things.

The decision to take McMillan over Walker - or any other edge rushers - turned out to be a sharp one, especially considering the lack of high-end depth at wide receiver and the surplus of talent on the edge.

Because they went in the right order, Carolina got the best of both worlds, landing two great edge prospects as well as the consensus No.

1 wide receiver in the draft.

Not everyone agrees that McMillan was WR1, though and the most vocal opposition to the pick has come from franchise legend Steve Smith, who preferred the smaller, faster Matthew Golden from Texas, who wound up going to the Packers at No.

23 overall.

As you might expect, Smith hasn't backed off his criticism of McMillan over the last week.

In his most recent podcast he doubled down on it, suggesting the Panthers already had what McMillan brings to the table in the building already.

"But what I thought was interesting is when you break down that receiver room, you have Adam Thielen, possession receiver.

Jalen Coker, possession receiver.

I guess David Moore is the speed guy? Xavier Legette, possession receiver.

And then they just got my dog, Huner Renfrow.

Hunter aint beating paint drying, okay? That aint who he is, and hell tell you that.

You go in the sixth round and with the 208th overall pick get Jimmy Horn Jr., which is speed, but prior to 208th in the sixth round, you drafted what you already had in the room." There's a lot to break down here, but we should probably begin by pointing out that while Smith should be a Hall of Fame wide receiver that doesn't make him an expert in analyzing them.

You may recall Smith's excitement when the team drafted Jonathan Mingo a couple years ago, for one.

As for this specific criticism, there is some truth to the idea that the Panthers have some redundancies at the wide receiver position.

However, to claim Thielen is a possession receiver is reductive - especially when the deep routes he ran were the best thing Carolina had going on either side of the ball down the stretch last season.

It's fair to say he's not a burner but he's also doing a lot more than just holding down the X button, so to speak.

Coker is perhaps more of a possession receiver than anything - but he also proved he has surprising breakaway speed with his 83-yard catch and run touchdown against the Cowboys.

As for Legette, there were a lot of issues with his game but a lack of speed isn't one of them - he ran a 4.39 forty and frequently got separation from his defenders.

He just didn't follow through often enough at the catch point.

Hunter Renfrow and David Moore are castoffs and whatever the Panthers get from them they should probably be happy with.

Horn is the fastest in the bunch but as Smith mentioned he's only a sixth-round pick and unlikely to make a big impact, at least on offense.

So, while it's fair to say that this team could use more speed/separation kind of guys, it's not entirely true to label this group as big and slow.

Whatever they are, there's more than enough talent here for the Panthers to field at least an average passing offense - and considering the resuls in recent years that's a huge step forward.

- Enjoy more free Panthers coverage with Carolina Panthers on SI - Carolina Panthers in familiar territory in post 2025 NFL draft power rankings Analytics point to the Panthers 2025 draft class as one of the NFLs best Panthers may have landed NFL draft's biggest steal no one is talking about Carolina Panthers had offers from at least 2 teams to trade up in Round 1.

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