Tennessee WR Chris Brazzell II Scouting Report
Razzle Brazzell
Image 1: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) making an acrobatic catch midair
Height: 6’5
Weight: 200
Position: WR
Year: (RS) Junior
Background
Image 2: WR Chris Brazzell II (7) during his final season at Midland Christian School
Chris Brazzell II was a Three-Star WR prospect in the class of 2022 coming out of Midland Christian School in Midland, Texas. Ranked as the 116th WR in the nation and 117th player from Texas, Brazzell had minimal recruiting attention due to a lack of great production, size, or track times. With offers from mainly small G5 programs, Brazzell would initially commit to FAU before swapping his commitment to Tulane.
As a member of the Green Wave, Brazzell would redshirt as a true freshman to put on weight. As a (RS) freshman, Brazzell would immediately take over Tulane’s offense by leading the team in receptions and yards. After earning Third-Team All AAC honors and being an honorable mention for the Freshman All-American team, Brazzell entered the 2024 transfer portal as a Four-Star WR prospect, and he committed to Tennessee. As a Volunteer, Brazzell would have a slow (RS) So season due to playing behind three upperclassman WRs. After the room left for the NFL draft or the transfer portal, Brazzell took the reins as the WR1 and led the team in receptions and touchdowns. After a dominant season in the SEC, Brazzell enters the 2026 NFL draft as an explosive play threat that can quickly climb up draft boards.
Athletic Tools
With an incredibly long and tall frame, Chris Brazzell II is going to be one of the tallest WRs in the NFL. Unsurprisingly, Brazzell uses his length to be a dominant contested ball winner. While other dominant in-traffic WRs use their strength and size to out-muscle DBs for difficult catches, Brazzell uses his body control and flexibility to contort his body to make difficult catches. Due to his length and coordination, Brazzell is a player who is functionally always going to be open.
Video 1: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) highpoints a pass in the middle of the field
Video 2: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) highpoints a TD pass in the endzone and stays in bounds
While there has been a recent distaste for jumpball WRs due to notable draft busts (Ex. Keon Coleman, Laquon Treadwell, N’Keal Harry), Brazzell separates himself from this crowd by being a great deep threat. With long strides and good build-up speed, Brazzell does a great job of eating up the cushion of off-coverage DBs and generating explosive plays downfield. Brazzell is not a burner when compared to WRs, but his combination of length, ball tracking, and good-enough deep speed makes him an incredibly dangerous target downfield.
Video 3: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) eats up the cushion of the DB and makes a contested catch down field
Video 4: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) separates deep after winning inside leverage and makes a contested catch with a defender draped over him
Brazzell’s length and deep speed make him an interesting prospect, but he provides very little outside of this physically. With mediocre acceleration and long strides, Brazzell is a poor RAC/YAC player going laterally. In the open field with the ball in his hands, Brazzell is not going to do much more than run vertically and go down. While he has good deceleration, Brazzell lacks the fluidity to speed cut at an NFL level. While not a death sentence, Brazzell’s stiffness will limit his effectiveness as a separator. Beyond this, Brazzell is an incredibly lean and tall player who can struggle to fight through physical coverage. While he is relatively consistent at releasing off the LOS, Brazzell is going have difficult matchups with technical press-man corners who can match up with Brazzell’s length and size (Ex. Jamel Dean, Jaycee Horn, JPJ). Many analysts will say he needs to gain weight, but I believe learning to hand fight better off his releases is enough for him to consistently beat press man coverage.
Video 5: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) makes a catch in the MOF and makes an awkward jump cut in space to try to get more yardage
Video 6: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) quickly decelerates to get open on the comeback concept
Video 7: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) gets jammed off the LOS after taking an outside release and being inactive with his hands off the LOS
Technicals
Despite being tall and laterally clunky, Brazzell is a quality separator. At the LOS, Brazzell is great at winning against man with varied inside and outside releases. At the stem of his routes, Brazzell has flashed good hand fighting and fakes to help him get separation. While he is not fluid enough to speed cut, Brazzell is great at square cutting when running outs and digs. Overall, Brazzell’s technical refinement and physical tools should let him be a good day one separator in the NFL.
Video 8: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) gets off the LOS with an inside release
Video 9: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) uses a rocker step at the stem
Video 10: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) uses a push off to get open on the dig
Video 11: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) uses a push off to get open on the out
Video 12: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) uses a textbook square cut to get open on the out
The only consistent red flag on Brazzell’s film is his frankly horrible effort. When not the primary read of route concept or on any run game, Brazzell has a bad habit of taking plays off and not even attempting to run a route/run off the DB. While he is a solid when he does try, Brazzell is a horrendous blocker purely due to effort. Though WRs away from the play often don’t try as a blocker, Brazzell has reps where he lets defenders make contact to the ball carrier instead of throwing a block.
Video 13: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) does not attempt to run off the DB on a run play
Video 14: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) does not run a route despite it being a passing play
Video 15: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) gets in the way of his teammate and looks for work in space at half speed
Video 15: WR Chris Brazzell II (17) doing good work as the lead blocker on a bubble screen
Draft Projection
Chris Brazzell II currently has a mid-to-late day two grade. While he is a very limited player, Brazzell’s skill set as a reliable field-stretching, 50/50 ball winner is incredibly valuable. Though he is a player whose game is built around his ability to win vertically, Brazzell has the ability to get separation running a full NFL route tree due to his deceleration and textbook square cuts. While his poor ability as a short-to-intermediate weapon limits his grading, I would not be shocked if he goes much higher to a team desperate for an X-Receiver who can win vertically at a high level.
Athletic Testing
Will be updated after the NFL Combine/Tennessee Pro Day
Pro Comparison
Image 3: WR Sidney Rice (18) making an acrobatic catch with the Seattle Seahawks
With both being productive SEC WRs with long frames and a knack for acrobatic catches, Sidney Rice reminds me a lot of Chris Brazzell II. While not a burner, Rice was one of the premier deep threats during his prime due to his build-up speed and incredible catch point ability. Though he did not provide much more than this, Rice’s knack for taking the top off of defenses and making difficult catches allowed him be a Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion. If he is able to land in a situation that wants to target him as a deep threat, Brazzell can be a very similar player to Rice.
Date Published: 1/31/2025
Date Last Updated: 1/31/2025