With only one week remaining in the 2024-2025 NFL season, some have already turned their full attention to the NFL Draft this spring.
The 2025 NFL Combine will begin on Feb. 27 while the draft itself will start on Apr. 24 in Green Bay.
Pro Football Network’s Jacob Infante released a massive seven-round mock draft on Sunday afternoon which gives a good look at which Tennessee players will and could be involved. Tennessee’s five projected players in PFN’s seven-round mock draft are scattered across all three days of picks.
The highest-projected Volunteer in the mock draft is EDGE rusher James Pearce Jr. PFN has the Charlotte, N.C., native going 15th overall to the Atlanta Falcons.
“It feels like mocking a defensive lineman to the Falcons is a yearly tradition that never happens, but it might work for me! James Pearce Jr. is worth that exception, as he’s an explosive edge rusher with quick hands and the flexibility to turn the corner and generate pressure on outside speed rushes,” Infante wrote.
During his third and final season at Tennessee, Pearce racked up 20 tackles, 7.5 sacks, and forced one fumble.
The second Tennessee player off the board is another defensive lineman. PFN has Omarr Norman-Lott projected to go 58th overall in the second round to the Houston Texans, potentially joining up with VFL Derek Barnett if Houston keeps him. Norman-Lott picked up 9.5 sacks during his two seasons with Tennessee in 2023 and 2024.
“An athletic 3-technique defensive tackle, Omarr Norman-Lott is one of the best interior pass rushers in the 2025 NFL Draft,” Infante writes. “With a low center of gravity, impressive hand usage, and a dynamic first step off the ball, he has potential to be a fixture for an NFL defensive line for a long time.
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Tennessee saw running back Jaylen Wright get drafted in the fourth round by Miami during last year’s draft and could see a similar situation happen this spring. Pro Football Network has UT running back Dylan Sampson projected 15 spots ahead of Wright, going 105th overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Sampson finished the 2024 season as Tennessee’s all-time single-season rushing leader with 1,491 yards. Sampson is ninth all-time for Tennessee in career rushing yards with 2,492.
Pro Football Network has their final two Vols sneaking in with back-to-back picks in the final eight picks of the draft.
PFN has Dallas taking center Cooper Mays 249th overall and Green Bay taking wide receiver Dont’e Thornton 250th overall.
Josh Heupel, entering his fifth season on Rocky Top in the fall of 2025, has put 13 players into the league through the NFL draft since arriving in Knoxville: (2022) Alontae Taylor, Velus Jones Jr., Matthew Butler, Cade Mays, Theo Jackson, (2023) Darnell Wright, Hendon Hooker, Jalin Hyatt, Cedric Tillman, Byron Young, (2024) Jaylen Wright, Joe Milton, and Kamal Hadden.
The 2025 NFL Draft will take place from Apr. 24 to Apr. 26, 2025, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The event will be held in Lambeau Field and the surrounding areas.
Check out Pro Football Network and Jacob Infante’s full seven-round mock draft here.