The Buzz Surrounding Jalen McMillan In 2025

Let’s put the spotlight on Bucs wide receiver Jalen McMillan.

With the 2024 season firmly in the rearview mirror and the pre-draft process, free agency, the draft itself, OTAs and mini-camp also behind us, it’s time to ramp up the excitement for training camp and then, of course, the Bucs’ 50th season. As we did last summer, we’ll spend the weeks leading up to training camp focusing on some storylines and narratives surrounding some of Tampa Bay’s biggest stars in 2025.

We started with quarterback Baker Mayfield, then went on to the backfield duo of Bucky Irving and Rachaad White before moving into the wide receiver room with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Today, we keep it going with second-year wide receiver Jalen McMillan.

Can Jalen McMillan Remain WR3 With Emeka Egbuka In The Mix?

The Bucs surprised a lot of people when they spent their 2025 first-round pick — No. 19 overall — on Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. In the days, weeks and months since, the vision behind selecting Egbuka with a premium pick has become clearer.

But drafting a wide receiver in the first round for the first time since selecting Mike Evans with the No. 7 pick in the 2014 Draft certainly leads to some questions about other how it will impact other members of the offense. Second-year wide receiver Jalen McMillan is included in that.

No one is suggesting that McMillan’s snaps and targets will completely disappear, but it’s fair to wonder whether he’ll be able to hang on to his presumed WR3 role in Tampa Bay’s offense.

Evans is the No. 1, and when Chris Godwin is fully healthy, it has always felt like Evans and Godwin are a 1A and 1B for the Bucs. With the way he finished his 2024 rookie season, McMillan is likely to slot in as the No. 3 behind those two. But will Egbuka eventually surpass him?

If that does happen, how will Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard manage to keep McMillan involved? Managing Godwin’s snaps as he returns from ankle surgery will naturally help the “problem,” as Egbuka can slide into the Godwin role and McMillan will continue to see playing time. But as Godwin gets healthier and Egbuka begins to emerge, what then?

With Evans entering his age-32 season, maybe there will be an effort to make sure he’s staying fresh. If that’s the case, that leaves snaps to go around for Godwin, Egbuka and McMillan.

This is certainly a good situation to have if you’re the Bucs, as very few teams have the personnel to handle such a deep arsenal of offensive weapons. We saw that in 2020 when Tom Brady was operating with Evans, Godwin, Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski on the way to Super Bowl LV.

The Bucs will make it work, and it’s a good setup for a first-time coordinator like Grizzard. But where it leaves McMillan in the grand scheme of things remains to be seen.

Was Jalen McMillan’s Strong Finish In 2024 A Sign Of What’s To Come?

As much as the addition of Emeka Egbuka might threaten the snap share that Jalen McMillan sees, it’s not as if McMillan is completely without control of the situation. Just last year, he came in as a rookie and battled incumbent WR3 Trey Palmer, who was a rookie the year before and finished the year on a high note, and outplayed him throughout training camp and the preseason.

Now, McMillan is on the flip side of that battle, as he’s the second-year receiver who will be looking to hold off a rookie to retain his spot after a hot finish to his rookie campaign. While the run of seven touchdowns in his final five games might not be sustainable, continuing to put himself in positions to make plays and impact the game will only help his case with the offensive coaching staff.

Bucs WR Jalen McMillan and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

When the Bucs got hot late in 2024, McMillan was a big reason why. Chris Godwin was sidelined, which meant the rookie was thrust into a key role in the Tampa Bay offense. He ran with it, getting healthy down the stretch and putting together a five-game touchdown streak, which tied Chris Sanders (1995) and Lee Evans (2004) for the second-longest receiving touchdown streak by a rookie in NFL history. Only Randy Moss (7 games in 1998) had a longer streak as a rookie.

That impressive finish to the season salvaged what had otherwise been a frustrating first NFL campaign for McMillan. The third-round pick out of Washington was the talk of the summer and caught his first career touchdown in his first NFL game, but beyond that play, he struggled to find his footing in the offense early on in the year. He also struggled with a hamstring injury for much of the season’s first half.

But McMillan caught four passes for 59 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-13 win over the Raiders in Week 14, and it was off to the races from there. He caught five passes for 75 yards and a touchdown in the following week’s win over the Chargers, continued his touchdown streak and posted 57 yards the following week at Dallas and then played a key role in the team’s two wins to close the season.

Bucs WR Jalen McMillan – Photo by: USA Today

First, it was another two-touchdown game in Week 17 against the Panthers. Then came a 74-yard, one-touchdown game in the division-clinching win over the Saints in Week 18. That blazing finish left McMillan with 37 catches for 461 yards (12.5 avg.) and eight touchdowns as a rookie after he had just 13 catches for 145 yards and one touchdown through 13 weeks of the season.

Was his historic finish to the season a sign of things to come for McMillan in year two? If so, he’ll have no problem holding on to a key role in the Bucs’ offense.

Can Jalen McMillan Avoid The Injury Bug In 2025?

Staying healthy will certainly be a significant key to Jalen McMillan following up his hot finish to 2024 with another good year in 2025. Unfortunately for the young receiver, injuries have been a part of his story throughout different stages of his football career.

Remember, a knee injury in his final year at Washington is likely what led to him falling to the third round. Without that injury, he may not even be a Buc, as he could’ve gone higher in the draft the way his fellow Huskies receivers did. Rome Odunze obviously went in the first round to the Bears, then Ja’Lynn Polk went early in the second round to the Patriots.

Right from the start of last summer, a healthy McMillan looked to already be a third-round steal for the Bucs. He instantly looked the part throughout OTAs, mini-camp, training camp and the preseason. Then, a 32-yard touchdown against the Commanders in his NFL debut kept the buzz going.

Bucs WR Jalen McMillan – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

But injuries would soon become a problem. He battled a hamstring issues during the middle portion of the season, missing Weeks 4 and 5 and playing sparingly in Week 6. He then missed Week 9, again with a hamstring injury, before being active in Week 10 only to be held out of the game. As it turned out, that was a bad time to be unavailable as the Bucs were navigating a losing streak without Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.

McMillan recovered nicely down the stretch with that aforementioned hot streak, so it’s not as if all was lost. But he was limited to 13 games as a rookie.

“I think when he got hurt early, it kind of set him back a little bit, so he was behind mentally when he got back,” head coach Todd Bowles said this offseason. “Once he caught up mentally, he really started to show himself and become a true leader over there, especially with Mike [Evans] and Chris [Godwin] going down for little bit of time. He became one of our guys, and he blossomed from there. He’s a heck of a football player. As long as he takes care of his body, we expect him to be even better this year.”

Now, he’ll look to stay healthy in 2025. This offseason was a big one for him as he transitions into his second year in the NFL. Bowles was asked at the NFL Annual Meeting if he would like the 6-foot-1, 192-pound McMillan to get bigger, and while he pushed back on the idea of him getting bigger, he did say they need the young receiver to do everything he can to take care of his body and avoid any injury issues.

“Not necessarily bigger but just stronger and more toned,” Bowles said. “You don’t have to necessarily get bigger as a wideout. When we say stronger, we mean just taking care of his body more and not as [likely to sustain injury].”

It’s now up to McMillan to stay on the field and keep producing in year two with Tampa Bay.