On Thursday afternoon, Tennessee football wide receiver Chris Brazzell II officially declared for the 2026 NFL Draft, forgoing his final season of college eligibility. As a result, he is also going to sit out of the Vols’ Music City Bowl matchup with Illinois at the end of December, according to Hayes Fawcett.
Brazzell was projected to be selected as high as the first round in mock drafts this season. His stock cooled down a bit toward the end of the season, but he is still expected to be one of the better wide receivers in this year’s draft class.
On the season, Brazzell posted an SEC-high 1,017 yards on 62 receptions. He found the end zone nine times with an average of 16.4 yards per catch.
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With Brazzell not playing in the Music City Bowl, it opens up one of the starting positions at outside receiver for Tennessee. Both Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews are expected to play in the game with neither eligible to enter the NFL draft. The only reason either would not play is if they decided to transfer, which there has been no indication of for either player to this point.
Brazzell, who started on the outside opposite of Matthews, will likely be replaced by either Radarious Jackson or Travis Smith Jr. Both are true freshmen who have battled through injury this season, but are healthy heading into the bowl game with the Illini.
Jackson caught seven passes this season for 72 yards. Smith grabbed three passes for 29 yards. With UT having no starters miss extended time with injury this season at wide receiver, time on the field was limited for both. This bowl game could be a great excuse to get both a fair bit of action ahead of next season.
Kickoff for the Music City Bowl is scheduled for Dec. 30 at 5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT from Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, the home of the Tennessee Titans. The game will air on ESPN.
