Chris Brazzell NFL Draft Profile - Rookie Film Analysis

Sep 13, 2025; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Chris Brazzell II (17) makes a catch for a touchdown during the first half against Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Alan Poizner-Imagn Images

Film Profile | Analytical Profile

Prospect Information

College: Tennessee
Height/Weight: 6'2"/222
Hands: 10"
Age: 22 (at the time of the 2026 season opener)

Important NFL Combine/Pro Day Numbers

40-Yard Dash: 4.37
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
3-Cone: N/A

College Production (Stats)

**Profiles similar to:**Justin Hunter

Plays similar to: Martavis Bryant

Position-Specific Attributes and Grades

Note: my usual format (citing examples for each attribute) does not display well on the site. Please click this link to access them.

Positives

• Elite height-speed combo for a receiver and 80-plus inch wingspan further makes him a mismatch for undersized corners; caught 13 of 23 deep targets (56.5%) in 2025.
• Huge frame is not wasted on contested catches downfield; if he tracks it, odds are he is going to stack his defender and come down with the catch.
• Accentuates his athleticism by displaying excellent body control, footwork and field awareness along the sideline.
• Surprising fluidity in his routes for a taller receiver; can drop his hips and make a cut without taking unnecessary snaps.
• Has an uncanny knack of creating late separation on deep shots; generated a 51% separation rate against single-man coverage (draft class average is 38.5, per PFF).
• Shows the necessary spatial awareness to find the voids in zone coverage, making him more of an option on intermediate throws than most traditional deep threats.

Negatives

• Good luck finding a player worthy of being invited to the Combine who measured at 6-foot-4 and less than 200 pounds and went on to have success in the NFL. Pro cornerbacks who like to press (and are good at it) figure to make life very difficult for him at the line of scrimmage until he adds more muscle.
• Although he stayed healthy after his freshman season, his durability will remain a question mark due to his lean frame.
• Lack of functional play strength and elusiveness show up repeatedly after the catch; career 3.4 yards after the catch per reception.
• Despite flashing some ability in contested-catch situations, he lost more 50-50 battles than he won every season (career 40.8% contested-catch success rate, including 7-for-17 in 2025).
• Lined up almost exclusively at one spot (right outside), logging a total of 24 snaps in the slot in 2025.
• Hard to find a player who cares less about blocking; he generally wasn't asked to block and doesn't have enough lower-body strength to do it well anyway.

Bottom Line

Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel just completed his fifth season at Tennessee and has yet to put a successful receiver in the NFL. (Cedric Tillman is the only one who has enjoyed even moderate success.) Jalin Hyatt and D'Onte Thornton were the first two size-speed freaks to enter the league playing the wide Z receiver in Heupel's offense and neither was well prepared for the NFL, to say the least. It is never a great idea to scout the helmet per se, but it is not a coincidence that two very talented wideouts with lean frames who fared very well in Heupel's offense are not doing well in the pros. The focus is on tempo and spreading the defense out as much as possible, not developing receivers for the next level. Making matters worse, Brazzell did not catch a red zone touchdown during his two-year stay at Tennessee, underscoring how big-play dependent he was for the Volunteers.

Two of the major differences between Brazzell and his predecessors (Hyatt and Thornton) are that Brazzell showed a hint of being able to do something besides outrunning coverage on deep balls. There is some nuance to his game, such as the fluidity he shows on routes that require something approaching the 90-degree cut needed on an out route or the aforementioned footwork along the sideline. One of his biggest problems from a prospect perspective is that Heupel's offense is so focused on space and pace that it does not prepare Tennessee receivers for many of the complexities in the NFL. Brazzell has the frame and athleticism to be a stud at the next level, but he probably needs at least 15 pounds of muscle to be ready for the rigors of the league. All of this is to say that - much like Hyatt and Thornton - he will enter the league behind many prospects in terms of readiness from a physical and football intelligence perspective. To what degree he succeeds in the NFL will greatly depend on how hard he works to compensate for the lack of instruction. The combination of those issues tends to be too much for most players. It is one reason why Martavis Bryant is a good player comp for him. Brazzell could enjoy immediate success as a freakish field-stretcher but ultimately wash out soon thereafter if he remains mostly a one-trick pony.

This article originally appeared on The Huddle: Chris Brazzell NFL Draft Profile - Rookie Film Analysis