Ian Rapoport reported the San Francisco 49ers have another 30-visit. This one is with former Tennessee wide receiver Chris Brazzell. The 6’4″ wideout ran a 4.37 40-yard dash at the NFL combine and had a 92nd percentile wingspan.
The 4-year junior is listed at No. 51 on the consensus big board. He’s projected to go in the 2nd round. However, some services, like Sports Info Solutions, have Brazzell 20th overall.
Former Volunteer wide receivers have shown that they were a projection coming into the NFL.
Tennessee doesn’t exactly run what you’d call a pro-style offense. Head coach Josh Heupel really leans into the hash marks in college, extreme wide receiver splits, and maximizes spacing to create simple reads and picks, which, in turn, creates artificial separation on vertical stems.
In Brazzell’s defense, he’s undoubtedly the best version to come out of this offense. The 22-year-old caught 62 of his 91 targets last season for 1,017 yards. Of those, 745 were air yards, for 9 touchdowns. He wasn’t nearly as successful during his first season with the Vols, where Brazzell only caught 47 percent of his targets for 334 yards.
The bloodline is there, as Brazzell’s dad played in the NFL. So you have the pedigree and the athletic traits to bank on.
Brazell only had two drops this past season and caught 89 percent of his on-target throws. Brazzell catches the ball well, away from his body, and has shown the ability to hold on through contact. It’s no surprise that he was a downfield threat in that offense, with 32 percent of Brazzell’s routes taking place down the field.
Brazzell plays as fast as he ran at the NFL Combine. He chews up ground in a hurry. He also does a good job of adjusting to passes that aren’t on target, as well as tracking the flight of the ball and putting himself in a position to make a play on 50/50 balls down the field.
I’d say Brazzell’s biggest issues are before the ball gets into his hands. While he can run away with defenders without a problem, there are too many exposures of Brazzell running into contact or getting hung up at some point in his route due to physicality.
What makes that bizarre is that Brazzell has multiple release packages in which he can win. I’ve seen him make a defensive back fall off the line of scrimmage. So there are ways he can win or avoid contact. Brazzell’s faults being coachable, or being able to scheme around, are likely what make him an attractive candidate to Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers.
He’s big, can run, is impressive off the line of scrimmage, and can make the spectacular catch down the field. Brazzell would be a big-play threat in Shanahan’s offense.
