Terrific Tennessee Tuesday: Chris Brazzell II

Tennessee's junior wide receiver is off to a blazing hot start for the Vols.

I have been wrong about several Tennessee football players through the first three games of this season. I could not have been more wrong about Tennessee Volunteers junior wide receiver Chris Brazzell II – and I could not be more thrilled about it. Following his star-making performance against No. 5 Georgia on Saturday afternoon in the Vols’ 44-41 heartbreaking loss, The Ringer’s NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay wondered on X, formerly Twitter, “Will “CBII” be WR1 next April? Chris Brazzell II has my full attention now.”

Through three games, Brazzell II is just nine receptions away from matching his full-season total last season. He’s found the end zone three more times than he did all of last season. He’s averaging 18.2 yards per catch and is tied for the most TD receptions of any receiver in FBS. He’s averaging 121 receiving yards per game, and if he can keep that number in the triple digits, he will be the first to do so since Jalin Hyatt in 2022, when he also won the Fred Biletnikoff Award.

Like Dont’e Thornton Jr. last fall, Year 2 on Rocky Top has been very kind to Brazzell II. Through three games, Brazzell II is on pace to have an even better season than the now Las Vegas Raider, who led all of FBS in yards per reception last season for the Vols. In a lot of ways, Brazzell II’s performance on the biggest stage against Georgia felt a lot like Hyatt’s performance against Alabama in 2022. It’s easy to wonder if Brazzell II had been targeted down the field one more time on the drive following Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton’s fumble in the third quarter or once in the overtime period if his final stat line could have looked a lot like Hyatt’s final stat line against the Crimson Tide.

Alas.

Tennessee vs Georgia Takeaways, Chris Brazzell II Is A Star & Vols Player Grades With Ryan Schumpert, Ethan Stone & Caleb Jarreau

Tennessee needed its lone upperclassmen in their talented, but very inexperienced, wide receiver room to make the Year 2 leap similar to Thornton Jr. and Hyatt. His emergence, along with redshirt freshman slot receiver Braylon Staley, has this Vol passing offense on fire once again. The Vols are seventh in passing yards per game, their highest mark nationally since they were fifth in 2022. The Vols threw 21 passing touchdowns last season; they may eclipse that total before the third Saturday in October. Staley, along with Brazzell II, has broken out and looks to be the next star slot receiver in the Heupel era on Rocky Top, but it helps to have a teammate like Brazzell II make the leap alongside you on the outside. I wrote before the year that this Tennessee wide receiver room could be really good if it plays out like 2021, where the Vols got close to 2000 snaps from Cedric Tillman, Velus Jones Jr., and JaVonta Payton. If this group can stay healthy, the Vols’ passing offense should finish in the top-10 for the first time since 2022. If Brazzell II keeps this up, he’s going to be in the Biletnikoff Award mix, too.