For all the talk about Tennessee cornerbacks Colton Hood and Jermod McCoy before the NFL Combine this week in Indianapolis, it may have actually been another former Volunteer who made the biggest steps forward in front of the scouts, executives, and coaches.
VFL Chris Brazzell began turning heads when putting together a career season during his final year at Tennessee. Now, he looks to be using those traits to continue turning heads at the NFL Combine. Brazzell’s weekend highlight came during a 4.37 40-yard dash, which was good for Top 10 at the wide receiver position.
ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. named Brazzell as one of his NFL Combine standouts, and one of only two wide receivers on the list. The other was Georgia receiver Zachariah Branch.
“In our preview of the workouts last Thursday, I predicted that Brazzell would ‘run something in the ballpark of 4.47 in the 40-yard dash and push himself into the first-round conversation.’ Well, he ran a 4.37. At his 6-foot-4 size, that’s really something,” Kiper writes. “I’ve been a fan of Brazzell throughout the process, and I had him in my first Round 1 mock draft in January. Scouts will start to take notice; it’s hard to find receivers with that body type who can run and move as he does. He popped in 2025 — his second season at Tennessee after transferring from Tulane — with 1,017 yards and nine scores. Brazzell averaged 16.4 yards per catch and had just two drops last season. He’s strong and makes plays in 50-50 situations. I expect a lot more late-Round 1 buzz for him now.”
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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.
As Kiper mentioned in his breakdown, the ESPN expert did have Brazzell as a first-round pick in the first edition of his mock draft. Kiper slotted Brazzell to go to the Buffalo Bills in the mid 20s. While Kiper did take Brazzell off the list for his second update, the former Volunteer could be one of the big risers from the weekend and find his way back into the first-round for Kiper and other experts around the league.
Either way, it’s fair to say that Brazzell took a huge step forward during the combine over the weekend. We don’t know how any sort of off-the-field interviews or meetings went, but we know that his 40-yard dash time will undoubtedly turn some heads.
