Carolina Panthers rookie wide receiver Chris Brazzell fell to the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft due in large part to concerns about the offense he played in with the Tennessee Vols in college.

“You just watch Tennessee tape, and he pops,” said ESPN’s Field Yates of Brazzell before the draft. “He can find ways to generate some separation at the top of his routes. It’s pretty much all on the perimeter. And Tennessee, to their success and credit during the college seasons — not as much during the pro development stage — has had a few of these guys come out as super long, fast, twitchy, athletic perimeter receivers that, at least to this point, haven’t really panned out that much at the NFL level.

“So I do think that will be part of the conversation (with Brazzell). A lot of the route tree at Tennessee is run far, run fast, run straight. Or run far, fast, straight, and then come back to the football. Guys like Cedric Tillman and Jalin Hyatt a few years ago. Remember, they were the talk of the town during that breakout year for Tennessee, and they have not become, at least to this point, super consistent contributors for their respective teams.”

Panthers head coach Dave Canales gets asked if he’s concerned about Chris Brazzell’s ability to learn an NFL offense

Carolina head coach Dave Canales met with reporters on Friday as rookie minicamp gets underway for the Panthers.

Canales was asked if he’s concerned about Brazzell’s ability to pick up an NFL offense after playing at Tennessee.

The third-year Panthers head coach made it clear that all players coming from college have to adjust in some way to NFL offenses.

“I think that’s a fair statement for all of the guys that are here,” said Canales in response to a question about Brazzell. “There aren’t very many offenses that really mimic what we’re trying to do in the pros to a T. There are degrees of plays that do look similar. And there are schemes that we take from college and there are schemes that college takes from the pros.

“But the language is different. How we call plays — the fact that we do call plays. Colleges are now starting to call their plays into the quarterback, but not all of them operate in that system. So it’s a pretty fair assessment for all of them, for wide receivers as well. Particularly if an offense plays a receiver left or right and they kind of stay on that side, learning how to flip formations and do all of that, that’s a part of the learning process.”

It’s clear that Canales is expecting all young players to go through a “learning process” as they adjust to an NFL offense.

The comments from Canales line up with what former Vols defensive back and current CBS Sports analyst Charles Davis said last month about college offenses and the NFL.

“Kids should be able to adapt and add to their game as they move forward,” said Davis while discussing Brazzell’s transition to the NFL. “That’s kind of how all of this works. Every kid that gets drafted into the NFL didn’t play in the system that they’re going to play in in the NFL.

“They’re going to be asked to do different things. Fernando Mendoza, the number one draft pick, will go under center more in his first week of mini-camp and OTAs than he did in his time at Indiana last year. So he’s (Brazzell) got to adapt and adjust.”

If Brazzell can excel in the NFL, Canales will be the last NFL head coach that ever gets asked about Tennessee’s offense translating to the pro game.