Story byMichael David SmithSat, January 10, 2026 at 5:40 PM UTC·2 min readPanthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan is expected to win the NFL's offensive rookie of the year honor. But while he's getting most of the attention, McMillan is far from the only rookie who will contribute to the Panthers today as they open the playoffs against the Rams. In fact, Panthers coach Dave Canales said General Manager Dan Morgan had an exceptional hit rate in this year's draft, as all eight players the Panthers selected contributed as rookies. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Dan Morgan, amazing job he's done evaluating talent, evaluating football character, personal character, and then the ability to help us from a football standpoint," Canales said. "He and I have constant conversations about how can we get these guys involved because they're going to have to help us at some point.