We’ve looked at a lot of draft projections since the end of the regular season, and there have been a few common trends. For one, Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy looks to be a widely-projected Top 15 pick next spring. Another trend that has been gaining attention lately is Tennessee cornerback Colton Hood rising into the first round more frequently among analysts and experts.
But one trend we haven’t seen, until now, is Tennessee wide receiver Chris Brazzell slotted to be taken on the first night of the 2026 NFL Draft.
In Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest NFL mock draft on Wednesday, the ESPN expert has Brazzell going 26th overall to Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills. It’s one of, if not the first, mock drafts that we’ve seen with Brazzell in the Top 32, but it also speaks to the attention that wide receivers appear to be getting heading into draft season.
“Picking in this range makes it difficult to find impact wideouts, and Brazzell would be the sixth off the board (marking the 10th time this century that six or more wide receivers have gone in Round 1),” Kiper Jr. writes. “But he also has the skill set to be a standout in the pros. His 6-foot-5 frame, long arms, sure hands and great concentration make him a big-time target in the end zone and on contested balls. I also see the explosiveness to get out of his breaks and separate. Brazzell tallied 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns this past season.”
After racking up just 333 yards in his first season with Tennessee in 2024, Brazzell had a true breakout season in 2025 by more than tripling his previous season’s production. The Texas native burst out of the gates with new quarterback Joey Aguilar and had four 100-plus receiving yard games in Tennessee’s first eight contests. He was nearly unguardable in the Vols’ overtime loss to Georgia in November, going for a season-high 177 yards and three touchdowns on just six receptions.
Brazzell also posted 125 yards against ETSU, 105 yards against Mississippi State, and 138 yards against Kentucky. His nine touchdowns on the season were seven more than he had during the Vols’ 2024 campaign.
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Brazzell is Tennessee’s second player off the board in Kiper’s Wednesday mock draft. He’s also got cornerback Jermod McCoy going to the Los Angeles Rams with the 13th overall pick. If McCoy were to wind up with Sean McVay’s squad, he would be the third former Tennessee player on the Rams defense, alongside outside linebacker Byron Young and safety Jaylen McCollough.
“OK, let’s get McCoy off the board for real now. He’s a tough evaluation, as he didn’t play a snap of football in the 2025 season after tearing an ACL last January,” Kiper Jr. writes. “Teams are going to have to take that into consideration, and his medical checks at the combine will be key. We saw Ja’Marr Chase, Penei Sewell, Micah Parsons and Rashawn Slater all go in the top 15 in 2021 without playing at all in 2020, but they were all COVID-19 opt-outs. Recovering from an injury is a little different. That all said, McCoy is a ball hawk, and he’s still a top-15 prospect for me.”
Kiper also linked the Dolphins at No. 11 and the Cowboys at No. 12 as potential landing spots for McCoy.
Tennessee cornerback Colton Hood didn’t make Kiper’s first-round projections on Wednesday, but he did recently land as high as No. 20 (Dallas Cowboys) in Field Yates’ mock draft for ESPN earlier in the week.
While it’s probably unlikely, perhaps there’s a situation where three former Tennessee players are all drafted in the first round this spring. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Check out Mel Kiper Jr.’s full mock draft here.
