Chris Brazzell just wants to catch passes from Nico Iamaleava and help Tennessee win games
Less than two weeks after Chris Brazzell II entered the NCAA Transfer Portal in December, the Tulane receiver had heard from 38 schools. His 44 catches for 711 yards and five touchdowns with the Green Wave last season drew attention from Michigan to Miami and from Southern Cal to Washington.
But when he looked at Tennessee, he saw something different. Specifically, when he looked at the quarterback depth chart.
“With Nico (Iamaleava), I know he has about three years left,” Brazzell said last week. “Most places, the quarterback either left or had one year of eligibility.
“Coming here, I’m feeling comfortable with the quarterback, knowing I’m going to be here for two to three years. It was a big factor in that.”
Chris Brazzell II at Tulane last season: 44 catches, 711 yards, 5 TDs
Brazzell’s breakout sophomore season — as a freshman he caught one pass for 11 yards in just two games — included a season-high seven catches for 103 yards and a touchdown at Florida Atlantic. He caught two touchdowns and had five catches for 93 yards a week later against UTSA. He went for over 100 yards at Memphis, too, catching three passes for 103 yards.
His other touchdowns came against South Alabama in the season opener, when he had 53 yards on four catches, and at Southern Miss two weeks after that, when he caught three passes for 35 yards.
Brazzell was ranked No. 18 among transfer wide receivers in the 2024 class and was No. 97 overall in the portal according to the On3 rankings.
At Tennessee he joins a wide receiver class that returns Bru McCoy, Squirrel White, Dont’e Thornton, Kaleb Webb and Chas Nimrod, among others, while adding highly rated freshmen in Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley.
“It has been great,” White said. “Chris coming in and two freshmen, the competition has been great. We have a pretty deep room. We are all battling for a spot, so we come in ready to work. We are doing a really good job.”
Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope described Brazzell as bringing “a unique skillset” to the wide receiver group.
“He’s 6-3, 6-4,” Pope said. “He is loose like a slot, he’s smooth, he can obviously make the deep catches, you saw that on his film last year. He’s really, really subtle and sudden in his transition.”
He’s big, Pope continued, but plays small in tight spaces.
“We’re fortunate to have him,” Pope said. “His presence here has been seen, and it’s also forced some other guys, and they’re stepping their game up because they see that there’s real competition in that room. It’s been awesome to have him.”
‘I’m just hopefully able to win some games for the team’
Brazzell, who will wear No. 11 in his debut season at Tennessee, is listed at 6-foot-5, 195 pounds, matching Thornton as the tallest receivers the Vols have on roster.
“I’m a bigger and also a taller receiver,” Brazzell said. “I’m not really like a big-body receiver who runs big-guy routes. I’m able to run a slant, curl or a dig route. I’m also able to take the top off. I feel like I am an all-around receiver.”
For Brazzell, it makes no different if he was a bigger receiver playing small, or a smaller receiver playing big. He just has one thing in mind.
“I’m just hopefully able to win some games for the team,” Brazzell said. “I feel like all of the receivers better each other. We have a lot of talent on the team, so meshing me with guys like Bru and Squirrel should be fun.”
