Former Tennessee Vols wide receiver Chris Brazzell is the victim of a pre-draft smear campaign this week.

Just days before the 2026 NFL Draft, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that there are “maturity concerns” with Brazzell.

“Multiple teams said Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson is the most talented wide receiver in this draft, and two said he would go higher than projected,” wrote Schefter. “But other teams expressed concerns about both his durability and maturity. Many teams say Tennessee’s Chris Brazzell II has elite talents that rival Tyson — one general manager even compared him with George Pickens — but there are even more questions about his maturity.”

“I think that’s trash” – Vols insider isn’t buying the concerns about Chris Brazzell

The questions about Brazzell’s maturity seemingly came out of nowhere.

Outside of an incident with a suspended license, Brazzell never ran into any trouble at Tennessee. He was on time and present for team activities and practices, and he produced at a high level in 2025.

VolQuest’s Austin Price suggested Wednesday on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will that Schefter’s report about Brazzell is “trash”.

“I don’t know where Schefter got that,” said Price. “I think that’s trash. Listen, Chris Brazzell is a very quiet kid — a reserved kind of kid. I wouldn’t call him a recluse, but at the same time, he’s not going to come up and be like, ‘Hey, man, what’s going on?’

“I’ve never heard anything about any kind of run-in during practice or any kind of run-ins in the locker room. He’s always been described as a very, very, very good kid. Again, he is not the most outgoing guy. So if you pass him in the hallway, he probably isn’t going to speak. It’s just kind of his demeanor and his personality. But he has, from all accounts, been a good teammate through his two years here at Tennessee with no drama and no problems off the field.”

The week of the draft is the worst for this kind of stuff. All kinds of rumors start popping up as teams and agents try to manipulate where players are selected. There’s a very good chance that’s what’s happening with Brazzell.

It’s unfortunate for Brazzell because he doesn’t deserve to be the subject of these rumors, but that’s the reality of the NFL Draft — it happens every year.