Chris
Brazzell II.
Chris
Brazzell II.
Tennessee· 6'4"· 198 lb· 4.37s 40
"Long-strider vertical X with legit 4.37 speed and a 6-4 catch radius, but a one-year breakout at Tennessee (62/1,017/9) leaves the route tree and contact release as the projection."Pre-draft read
This X-receiver wins with speed and length, playing taller than his frame. His long first step immediately threatens cushion, allowing him to stack corners on go and post routes. His deep speed chews leverage on vertical routes and back-shoulder fades. He catches with his hands outside his frame, high-pointing 50/50 balls and tracking the deep ball over either shoulder without decelerating.
His route tree remains narrow, primarily go, slant, dig, and post routes. He exhibits rounded breaks on comebacks and hitches due to inconsistent hip sink. Against press, he's below average when corners initiate contact, relying on a shake release rather than a refined plan. He is a willing, yet light, boundary run blocker.
Carolina would use Brazzell as an X-iso boundary receiver in an Air Raid vertical passing scheme, primarily on go routes and posts.
Year 1 he is a field stretcher who can punish busted coverages and win one-on-one on the boundary, with a ceiling to develop into a high-volume X if he refines his route running.
A run-heavy West Coast or gap/duo system that demands precise route running and dominant run blocking from its perimeter receivers would minimize his impact.
He excels in systems that prioritize raw speed and vertical threats, but needs development in route-running nuance and blocking to be an every-down player.
Chris Brazzell II — Full 2025 Highlights
Full senior-year cutup at Tennessee: vertical wins, back-shoulder fades and All-SEC production.
Every 2025 Touchdown
All nine receiving touchdowns from the 2025 season — heavy diet of go routes, posts and red-zone fades.
4.37 Combine 40 — Tennessee WR Chris Brazzell II
2026 Combine forty confirming vertical speed at 6-4/198.
This prospect is a long, wiry X-receiver whose projection is a bet on his late development arc. A team drafting him is buying a size/speed vertical threat with raw tools, expecting that his technique will develop to match his physical gifts, particularly given his 4.37-second 40-yard dash at 6-foot-4, 198 pounds.
Hailing from Midland, Texas, he redshirted at Tulane, then led the Green Wave in receiving as a redshirt freshman with 44 receptions for 711 yards and five touchdowns, earning third-team All-AAC honors. After transferring to Tennessee, he performed as a rotational piece in 2024 with 29 receptions for 333 yards and two touchdowns, before breaking out in 2025 with 62 catches, 1,017 yards, and nine touchdowns, earning first-team All-SEC recognition.
Evaluators noted his impressive trait stack of size and speed but expressed concerns regarding his narrow route tree and struggles against press coverage. Consensus placed him in the Day 2 receiver tier, and he was ultimately drafted by the Carolina Panthers with the 83rd pick, a selection that prioritizes his physical upside over his current refinement.
- 01
Vertical speed at size
ran a 4.37-second 40-yard dash at 6-foot-4, 198 pounds, consistently stacking corners on go routes.
- 02
Catch radius and high-point ability
long arms and leaping ability enable him to win 50/50 balls and track deep passes without deceleration.
- 03
Deep-ball production
generated 16.4 yards per catch and nine touchdowns as a senior, primarily on vertical routes and back-shoulder fades.
- 04
Late-arc development
progressed from two total catches in 2022 to first-team All-SEC in 2025, indicating potential for continued growth.
- 05
Boundary body control
maintains possession on contested plays, planting a foot on the sideline and staying inbounds on back-shoulder fades.
- 01
One-year production profile
his 62-catch senior season represents his most significant college resume, raising questions about sustainability.
- 02
Narrow route tree
his tape is dominated by vertical stems and posts, with rounded breaks on intermediate routes due to inconsistent hip sink.
- 03
Limited press release plan
he relies on a shake step and speed, lacking a consistent hand-fighting technique against physical corners.
- 04
Average play strength for his frame
at 198 pounds, he appears wiry, susceptible to re-routing at the top of stems and struggles after the catch.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.37sp50
- Vertical
- —in
- Broad jump
- —in
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Tulane | 2 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| 2023 | Tulane | 13 | 44 | 711 | 5 |
| 2024 | Tennessee | 13 | 29 | 333 | 2 |
| 2025 | Tennessee | 12 | 62 | 1017 | 9 |
| Career | — | 40 | 136 | 2072 | 16 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
- Joey AguilarQB26%
- DeSean BishopRB8%
- Mike MatthewsWR7%
#2 of 18 tracked contributors · Produced in line with his snap share · Offense explosiveness 1.25 (p56) · CFBD — usage x PPA per tracked player
Long-striding vertical X who carved out a decade-long career as a shot-play specialist and complementary piece without ever refining the full route menu.
Vertical X whose 4.3 speed and stack ability off the line turned him into a Pro Bowl deep threat before the route tree ever fully filled in.
Elite straight-line speed that never translated because press, a thin route tree and average play strength capped him at situational vertical duty.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context — Brazzell arrived at Tulane as a lightly recruited three-star from Midland, Texas, redshirted, then led the Green Wave in receiving as a redshirt freshman in their attack. He transferred to Tennessee for a rotational 2024 season inside their tempo attack before breaking out as a senior with 62 catches for 1,017 yards, nine touchdowns and first-team All-SEC honors. A 4.37 forty at 6-4, 198 with 32⅜-inch arms at the 2026 Combine crystallized the vertical-X profile evaluators had circled on tape.
NFL fit — Carolina Panthers — Carolina spent the 83rd pick on a size/speed outside receiver to give a young quarterback a real deep threat and to stress single-high looks that had been sitting on top of the offense. The fit is straightforward: line him up as the X, let him run go routes, posts and back-shoulder fades early, and let the route tree grow from there. The pull is obvious — 4.37 at that height with a catch radius that lets a quarterback throw him open on shots. The risk is equally obvious: NFL corners will press him, and if the release plan and the intermediate breaks don't come along, the target share collapses to shot plays only.
Retrospective — At 83, this is a trait bet more than a résumé bet. A one-year breakout and a narrow route tree are real flags, but the ceiling is a starting vertical X in a scheme that wants shots, and the floor is a WR3/WR4 with return-game utility if the technique never catches the tools. On the third-round curve, that's a defensible swing at a receiver whose best football almost certainly hasn't been played yet.