It was a tale of two halves of the season when it came to Bucs wide receiver Jalen McMillan’s rookie campaign. The first half was marred by injury, causing him to miss four games through 10 weeks and have a pedestrian start statistically to his NFL career. The second half, though, saw McMillan, one of the team’s third-round picks, skyrocket in terms of his production, scoring touchdown after touchdown.
He went on an incredible run of scoring seven touchdowns in the final five games of the regular season, including two multi-score games. Jalen McMillan’s receiving yards per game went up too, as he had a game with 75 yards in Week 14 and 74 yards in Week 17, which was the regular season finale.
There’s still plenty of room to improve on for the young Bucs receiver, but his finish in 2024 has many thrilled for his potential in 2025.
Bucs WR Teammates Are Excited For Jalen McMillan’s Future
“I love the way that he progressed over the season,” Bucs wide receiver Sterling Shepard said of Jalen McMillan. “I told him ‘you’re going into your second season, the game is going to slow down for you.’ It’s a pretty big jump going from college to the NFL in the speed of itself.
“And the looks, defenses do a great job of disguising at this level. I think experience is what you have to have. We have a lot guys with experience and that are able to talk to those younger guys and give them a couple of tips and pointers where it needs be. I was just happy to see how he progressed over the season and how he matured. I think it’s going to be taken to a different level this season.”
Bucs WR Jalen McMillan – Photo by: USA Today
The passing game of the Bucs is still going through wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin as they make for one of the best receivers duos in today’s game – let alone the history of the game. But that doesn’t mean McMillan won’t have an important role. He had some big third down contributions last season and should get even more opportunities with the attention that Evans and Godwin will continue to attract.
Evans, who turns 32 in August, is heading into a contract year and we don’t know how much longer he wants to play for. He’s indicated that he would be retired by 2028, so he could play as many as three more seasons adhering to that goal. Godwin just turned 29 and is coming off of another serious injury, and regardless, the Bucs need to make sure they have another piece in place at wide receiver for depth reasons.
“I’m extremely excited about his future, about what he can turn into, because he’s really a great kid,” Chris Godwin said. “I say kid like I’m old, I’m 29 years old, what am I talking about? [laughs] He’s a great guy. It’s funny, when he got here, one of the first things he said to me was, ‘I can’t believe I’m on a team with Chris Godwin.’ I was like, ‘What are you talking about? I feel like I just got here.’
“I’m a kid just like him. He was just so eager and [was] asking me questions. Again, like I was saying earlier, I’m happy to give advice. To see him be able to bloom the way he did at the end of the year, it really makes me excited for the contributions that he can give this upcoming season.”
Bucs Receivers Keep Jalen McMillan Humble
Bucs WR Jalen McMillan – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR
Scoring eight touchdowns in a rookie season is an impressive accomplishment. Especially when Jalen McMillan only had one score heading into Week 13 where he started his consecutive game scoring streak. Many of his teammates felt some of his touchdowns came as a result of by being wide open on the play. They wanted to reiterated to him that it won’t always be that easy going forward now that he has developed a reputation for being a formidable touchdown target.
“He scored eight touchdowns this season, easiest touchdowns I’ve ever seen in my life,” Shepard said laughing. “I had to let him know ‘Listen man, don’t get too comfortable with this one right here. It’s tougher than what it maybe looked like last season.’ I’m super proud of him and the way he progressed throughout last season. They ain’t going to be walk ins. But he’s a great player, I’m excited to see him this second season and what he’s going to be able to accomplish.”
Chris Godwin echoed a similar response.
“The way that he turned it on at the end of the season, it was amazing,” Godwin said. “It was crazy to see. I feel like I’ve never seen anybody have so many wide-open touchdowns. It was unreal to see his growth from the beginning of the season to the end, and his level of comfort…It was very cool.”
If McMillan takes a big step forward in 2025 as expected, he could score another eight touchdowns this upcoming season – perhaps even more.
