(Note: The Salty Dogs is a long-running podcast produced by Buccaneer staffers Jeff Ryan and Scott Smith on a weekly basis during the regular season, frequently featuring Tampa Bay players as guests. The following is excerpted from this week’s interview on the podcast with rookie wide receiver Jalen McMillan.)
In 2017, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Penn State wide receiver Chris Godwin in the third round, and seven years later that appears to be an enormous steal. Godwin is second to Mike Evans in all receiving categories in franchise history, and the only receiver among the 10 selected before him with more career receiving yards is the Rams' Cooper Kupp.
It took a few years for it to become plainly apparent what a draft steal Godwin was, so it's far too early to put that label on any rookie. However, many draft pundits believed the Buccaneers got great value on their latest third-round receiver, Washington's Jalen McMillan. McMillan was the leading pass-catcher on the 2022 Huskies team that also included Rome Odunze and Ja'lynn Polk, who were drafted ninth and 37th overall, respectively in this year's draft. However, an MCL sprain in 2023 caused him to miss four games and most of several others, and his production was essentially cut in half. That injury almost certainly contributed to him sliding into the third round, where the Bucs happily pounced at pick number 92.
McMillan was able to accept that outcome, and he ended up in a great situation, immediately earning the third-receiver job alongside Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in a high-powered passing attack led by Baker Mayfield.
"I feel at the end of the day, God does things in certain ways to where you're not going to understand why but at the end of the day you've just got to settle with the punches and just accept what it is," he said.
That acceptance didn't exactly come easy. He relates that he had people around him suggesting that his final season at Washington might lead to him going completely undrafted. He chose to focus on returning from his injury and helping the Huskies navigate the college football playoffs. He did exactly that, catching nine passes for 131 yards against Oregon and then snaring a touchdown against Texas and another one against Michigan in the national title game.
"I had gotten hurt my last year in college," said McMillan. "I expected big things out of myself. I expected to go first round with Rome. That didn't happen so I had to get my mind right for the playoff games and for the championship games. Just being able to perform in that and face all that pressure, that's what makes me play the way I play today, which is freely. I had to come to a mindset to where I had this many games to put on a show for individuals and see for myself what I could really do, and I was able to put myself in a good position."
McMillan impressed the Buccaneers coaches throughout the offseason and in training camp, and in his first NFL game he not only started alongside Evans and Godwin but played the most snaps of any of the team's receivers. In the fourth quarter, he helped Tampa Bay pull away from Washington with a 32-yard touchdown catch on a corner route for his first NFL reception. Mayfield also targeted McMillan twice on early-game drives, but one was far out of his reach and the other was a difficult attempt at a high pass. The rookie admitted that he was a bit nervous at the beginning of the game.
"I had the jitters at first," he said. "It was hard to get a sense of belonging, coming from college to the NFL. You're seeing all these big names out there. It's kind of hard…at first it was, but slowly as the game went on I came to an understanding that it's the same game I've been playing since I was a kid and not to overthink anything.
"We went on a certain drive to where all we did was just call run plays and I had to be physical in front of defenders. I was hitting people and I said, 'Okay this is the same game we've been playing since we were babies."
