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
Chris Brazzell II WR Tennessee |
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
| Jersey: #17 ROLE: Outside X-Receiver | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated: 03/23/2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Year: 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FORTY time: 4.37 seconds (90%*) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jersey: #17 | |
| ROLE: Outside X-Receiver | |
| Last Updated: 03/23/2026 | |
| Draft Year: 2026 | |
| Forty time: 4.37 seconds (90%*) | |
| Overall Rating: | 86.4 / 100 | |
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| Average rating of opposition Defense player has faced | ||
| Defense Rating: |
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77% |
| Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects. | ||
| QB Rating When targeted: | 120.0 | |
| Hands: |
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77% |
| Short Receiving: |
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79% |
| Intermediate Routes: |
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82% |
| Deep Threat: |
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83% |
| Blocking: |
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56% |
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DRAFT PROJECTION:
1st - Late
Overall Rank:
#28
Position rank:
#5 (WR)
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| College Games: 40 College Snaps: 1938 | ||
ESPN RATING: 75/100
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247 RATING: 87/100
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RIVALS RATING: 5.5 (90%)
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| Player Comparison* (Similarity level) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Brian Thomas Jr. - LSU |
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83% |
| Matt Landers - Arkansas |
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81% |
| George Pickens - Georgia |
|
79% |
Drafted: ROUND: 3 - Pick Number: 83 (CAR)
Draft Profile: Bio
Football pedigree runs in the family for Chris Brazzell II, whose father Chris Sr. was a sixth-round pick of the New York Jets in 1998 and spent nine years playing professionally between the NFL and CFL. The younger Brazzell grew up in Fort Worth, Texas before his family relocated to Midland, where he developed into a lanky, coordinated pass-catcher at Midland Legacy High School. He finished his prep career with 52 receptions for 859 yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior, and the major recruiting services tagged him as a consensus three-star prospect, ranking him among the top 200 players in talent-rich Texas.Brazzell originally committed to Tulane, where a shoulder injury limited him to just two games as a true freshman in 2022. He bounced back in a big way during his redshirt freshman campaign in 2023, leading the Green Wave with 44 catches for 711 yards and five touchdowns while averaging 16.2 yards per reception. That production earned him Freshman All-American recognition and All-AAC Third Team honors. After two seasons in New Orleans totaling 45 receptions for 722 yards, the allure of SEC competition and Tennessee's explosive offense proved too strong to resist.
His transition to Knoxville started slowly in 2024, playing behind established receivers and contributing 29 catches for 333 yards and two scores in 13 games. One of those touchdowns came against seventh-ranked Alabama, a diving 16-yard grab in the corner of the end zone with under six minutes remaining that gave the Vols the lead in one of the program's biggest wins of the season. With the receiver room largely turned over heading into 2025, Brazzell seized the opportunity and became the unquestioned alpha. He finished the year with 62 receptions for 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns, leading the SEC in receiving yards and receiving yards per game while tying for the conference lead in touchdown catches. His six-catch, 177-yard, three-touchdown destruction of Georgia in the SEC opener stands as perhaps the signature performance of the entire college football season. The Biletnikoff Award semifinalist earned First Team All-SEC honors and Third Team All-America recognition, capping a career that saw him total 136 receptions for 2,072 yards and 16 touchdowns across stints at Tulane and Tennessee.
Scouting Report: Strengths
- Watch the Georgia game and you will see a receiver who understands how to manipulate coverage with subtle body movements and stem variations before exploding out of breaks.
- Tracks the deep ball with rare patience and concentration, adjusting his frame mid-flight while absorbing contact from trailing defenders without losing focus on the catch point.
- His 6-4 frame creates a massive catch radius that corners simply cannot contest, and he consistently wins at the high point with strong hands and outstanding body control.
- Surprisingly fluid hip movement for a receiver his size, allowing him to sink into his breaks on curls, hitches, and comebacks without the false steps that plague most tall targets.
- Gets into his routes quickly off the line with varied release packages, using well-timed hand swipes and jab steps to clear press attempts before defensive backs can establish contact.
- Plays with excellent spatial awareness in zone coverage, throttling down to find soft spots and presenting himself as an available target rather than running through windows.
- Toe-drag sideline catches are already polished at the college level, showing the footwork discipline and boundary awareness that coaches expect from a pro-ready perimeter weapon.
- The combine confirmed what the tape suggested all along: this is a legitimate deep threat with elite long speed, not just a big body who wins on length alone.
- Willing to get his nose dirty in the run game and shows effort sustaining blocks when he engages, using his length to wall off defenders on the backside of plays.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
- The 198-pound frame is lean for a receiver his height, and questions about durability linger given the shoulder injury that cost him most of his true freshman season.
- Concentration drops show up on film more often than you want to see, particularly on routine catches underneath where he takes his eyes to the second move too early.
- Lacks the lateral agility and sudden change of direction ability to threaten defenders after the catch, limiting his yards-after-reception ceiling on short and intermediate targets.
- Can get handsy and grabby at the stem when press corners match his physicality, occasionally drawing offensive pass interference flags when he does not trust his footwork.
- Did not see much tight man coverage this season, and the question remains whether he can consistently separate against NFL corners who will challenge him at the line every snap.
Scouting Report: Summary
Brazzell walked into Indianapolis with a reputation as a long, fluid receiver who could win downfield and at the catch point. He walked out having torched the 40-yard dash with a 4.37 that tied for the ninth-fastest time among 34 receivers. That number changes the calculus entirely. Before the combine, you could talk yourself into Brazzell as a quality possession X who won with technique, length, and contested-catch ability. Now you are looking at a 6-4 target with an 80-inch wingspan who also happens to run faster than most of the guys he will line up across from at the next level.What separates him from the Laquon Treadwells and N'Keal Harrys of the world was already on tape before the combine confirmed it. His hip flexibility and route discipline at the break point are legitimately surprising for someone his size. He can sink into a dig route at fifteen yards and come out of it clean, not lumbering through the break like so many big receivers do. Pair that with the verified elite speed and you have a receiver who threatens every level of the defense, not just the back end. Play-action heavy systems that lean on shot plays and deep crossers will get the most out of him immediately.
The concerns have not vanished overnight. He still needs to add functional weight to handle NFL press coverage week after week. The concentration drops on underneath routes remain a correctable but real issue. And he is not turning a five-yard hitch into a twenty-yard gain with his feet. But here is the thing: that 4.37 took the bust risk off the table. The big receivers who flame out in the NFL are the ones who cannot separate, who rely entirely on size and jump-ball ability to produce. Brazzell separates. He separated on film all season long, and now the measurables confirm that the separation is backed by genuine top-end speed. The ceiling is a true number-one X receiver who commands safety attention and opens up the entire offense. The floor is a productive vertical threat who stretches the field and dominates contested-catch situations in the red zone.
Chris Brazzell II percentiles vs other Wide Receivers (NFL Combine historically - higher value represents better perfomance)
How other scouting services rate Chris Brazzell II (Overall Rank)
All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
56.3
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
10.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank
in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance.
For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.