Chris Brazzell reveals his true feelings on Tennessee’s offense and addresses the maturity questions he faced before the draft
Former Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Chris Brazzell was selected in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. Brazzell grew up rooting for the Panthers.
Former Tennessee Vols wide receiver Chris Brazzell may have been a first round selection in the 2026 NFL Draft if not for questions about his maturity and the offense that he played in at UT.
Instead, Brazzell was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the third round.
The maturity questions about Brazzell were particularly puzzling.
Outside of an incident involving a suspended license, Brazzell never ran into any trouble at Tennessee.
That’s why Tennessee fans were surprised when ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that there were questions about Brazzell’s maturity just days before the draft.
“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 in April. “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.”
Brazzell responded to that report on Saturday at Carolina’s rookie minicamp.
“Long story short, I just really didn’t know my license was suspended,” said Brazzell. “It wasn’t one of those things where I was driving around with a suspended license like a dummy. In the state of Tennessee, they issue you a suspended license and never tell you. So my license was suspended for like a year and a half. And I don’t get pulled over a lot. So it took me a year again to get pulled over again, and [then it’s like], ‘Dang, my license is suspended?’ So I was in jail for like 30 minutes. No bond. Leaving with a ticket. Went in there and walked out. It was a learning lesson. Just pay your tickets on time.”
“Yeah, they asked me,” added Brazzell when asked if NFL teams asked about the incident before the draft. “But they understand. I’m not a troublemaker. I’m 22 now, and that’s my only experience with the law.”
Panthers head coach Dave Canales noted this week that Carolina didn’t have any pre-draft concerns about Brazzell’s character.
Chris Brazzell gets honest about Tennessee’s offense under Josh Heupel
Brazzell faced plenty of questions ahead of the draft about his ability to run NFL routes after playing in Tennessee’s offense, which has been heavily criticized during the Josh Heupel era for the way it prepares players for the NFL.
The Texas native pointed out on Saturday that every route he’s ran so far with the Panthers he also ran at Tennessee.
“Everybody knows Tennessee as the run-n-gun,” said Brazzell. “Which, they’re right — I’m not gonna sit here and lie. So in 2024, that was a lot of run-n-gun. But this year, if you really watch my film, I’m running damn near every route in the playbook. Every route I’ve ran here, I ran at Tennessee.
“There’s not a route I’ve ran here that I have not [already] ran. So Tennessee is definitely evolving the playbook. They’re getting more pro-style. So yeah, I haven’t really ran a route here that I haven’t run at Tennessee.”
Those comments should quiet some of the noise about the Volunteers’ offense.