Cole Cubelic: Tennessee transfer WR Chris Brazzell 'is going to be the real deal'
Chris Brazzell was ranked as the 18th best wide receiver in the NCAA Transfer Portal when he left Tulane back in December. He was coming off a breakout sophomore season with 44 catches for 771 yards and five touchdowns and drew interest from more than 38 schools.
That interest was well deserved according to ESPN and SEC Network college football analyst Cole Cubelic.
Cubelic on his podcast, The Cube Show, described Brazzell as “the real deal” and said he’s in line to have “a hell of a year.”
“There’s a guy on this team that we’ve told you about, though, because we watched the film,” Cubelic said. “And when he transferred in we tried to explain to people that Chris Brazzell is going to be the real deal.
“My understanding is the way that he finds space is uncanny. Maybe doesn’t even know he’s doing it sometimes — 50/50 balls, athleticism, he’s the real deal.
Chris Brazzell joined a deep, talented wide receiver group at Tennessee
Brazzell made his unofficial debut in Tennessee’s Orange and White Game in April, the annual split-squad scrimmage to conclude spring practice. He caught four passes for 89 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown in the second half.
Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope during the spring 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.”
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.
‘I think he’s going to have a hell of a year’
“I’m a bigger and also a taller receiver,” Brazzell said during spring practice. “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.”
“I’m just hopefully able to win some games for the team,” Brazzell added. “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.”
The way Cubelic described him Tuesday, Brazzell will be able to do just that.
“He’s going to be big time,” Cubelic said. “You saw some of it in the spring game, (he did) some of those things. I think he’s going to have a hell of a year.”
