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The Bucs have officially signed wide receiver Jalen McMillan to his rookie contract, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. McMillan becomes the fourth member of Bucs’ 2024 draft class to sign with the team, joining Bucky Irving, Elijah Klein and Tykee Smith.
McMillan was selected in the third round by Tampa Bay, 92nd overall. He was taken just three picks after his new teammate Smith as the Bucs drafted him with their 89th overall pick. The idea of McMillan coming to the Bucs was only possible as Tampa Bay acquired pick 92 from the Detroit Lions in the Carlton Davis trade.
Bucs’ Plans For McMillan
The 6-foot-1, 203-pound McMillan is a smooth, natural receiver who has a good feel for his routes and possesses 4.47 speed. He has a whole lot of experience operating out of the slot, playing 459 snaps in the slot in 2022 before spending another 231 snaps there in 2023. However, the Bucs plan to use Chris Godwin in the slot, so McMillan will likely line up outside. He did much of that in the previous year for the Huskies, so it should not be a concern as he’s comfortable outside as well.
Bucs WR Jalen McMillan – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
When Jalen McMillan came to Tampa he said he wanted to put on a show for the fans. Part of that show has been his ability to come up in the clutch. Given the success that the University of Washington had least season making it to the national championship McMillan has played in a fair amount of big-time games.
In the PAC-12 Championship game against Oregon, McMillan dominated the evening, making a game-high nine catches for 131 yards (14.6 yards avg.) as the Huskies beat the Ducks, 34-31. In the Sugar Bowl against Texas, McMillan recorded five catches for 58 yards and scored a crucial touchdown in the third quarter to put Washington up 28-21 at the time. It was the last touchdown that Washington scored, as the Huskies hit a couple more field goals and won, 37-31.
And although the National Championship game didn’t go the way they wanted to as the Huskies lost to the Michigan Wolverines, it was McMillan who scored the only touchdown for his team in the 34-13 outcome.
Playing in these big moments and making tons of splash plays is something McMillan is used to. The moment has never been too big for him and he’s usually shined brightest on the biggest of stages.
“Throughout Washington the whole standard in the room was to to make the stadium go boom,” Jalen McMilan said. “People come into the stadium with expectations and you’re supposed to meet them and let their emotions soar. So every time we focus on that and, whether it’s me or my teammate, I mean, that’s just the goal. It made me feel amazing (making big plays). That’s one of my goals – just to change the whole dynamic of the stadium.”
McMillan Off To A Good Start With The Bucs
Though early, its quick to see why and how McMillan has continuously put up highlight plays. McMillan has already stood out to a degree making some big plays. It started with rookie mini-camp having caught a deep ball way down the field.
Washington WR Jalen McMillan – Photo by: USA Today
That continued during OTAs as McMillan got the better of cornerback Bryce Hall, who the Bucs view as a starting caliber player, by beating him on a go route. McMillan caught the pass from Baker Mayfield, jumping for it before Hall was able to.
We’ve seen some acrobatic plays from McMillan. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come. For the time being it’s way too early to anoint him as the next big thing already. Ideally, McMillan can be the third option at receiver behind Mike Evans and Godwin, but with the Bucs using more three wide receiver sets, he becomes that much more important to the offense. Trey Palmer is top candidate to push him for that role.
Still needing to be signed by the Bucs draft class is offensive lineman Graham Barton, outside linebacker Chris Braswell and tight end Devin Culp.
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