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Jersey numbers for Tennessee Football's 2025 NFL Draft class

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•05/07/25•

GrantRamey

James Pearce, Atlanta Falcons | Brandon Magnus, 2025 Atlanta Falcons
James Pearce, Atlanta Falcons | Brandon Magnus, 2025 Atlanta Falcons

Jersey number 55 wasn’t something Tennessee defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott was necessarily looking for. Instead, during his time at Arizona State, it was just the number the he was given. So he stuck with it. 

“Arizona State kind of just put in 55,” Norman-Lott said during Kansas City Chiefs minicamp. “It didn’t have any special meaning to me.”

Until he made a play wearing the number.

“I just went like this,” Norman-Lott said, raising both arms with all five fingers extended on both hands. “This was my celebration, I put both of my fives up. And ever since then, it just stuck.

“With that team, they started calling me five-five. Now it definitely does have a significant meaning behind me on the field of play.”

It’s the number Norman-Lott will wear with the Chiefs as a rookie, after he was selected in the second round of the NFL Draft at No. 63 overall. 

It’s one of two familiar numbers for former Tennessee players who are starting their NFL careers. 

James Pearce keeping jersey No. 27 with Atlanta Falcons

James Pearce will continue to wear No. 27, the same number he wore with the Vols, with the Atlanta Falcons, which traded up to get him at No. 26 overall in the first round.

Dylan Sampson will wear No. 22 with the Cleveland Browns and Dont’e Thornton will wear No. 10 with the Las Vegas Raiders. 

Thornton, who wore No. 1 at Tennessee, was a fourth-round pick, selected at No. 108 overall — the sixth pick in the fourth round — by the Raiders.

Sampson started his Tennessee career wearing jersey No. 24, then switched No.  6 for his sophomore and junior seasons. He was also picked in the fourth round, taken at No. 126 overall by the Browns, the 24th pick in the fourth. 

Looking back at Tennessee’s 2025 NFL Draft class

Sampson starred in the No. 6 jersey at Tennessee, braking single-season program records for rush yards (1,491) and touchdowns (22) last season. His debut in No. 6 was his breakout sophomore season in 2023, when he went for 604 yards and seven touchdowns.

Thornton wore both No. 10 and No. 2 at Oregon before transferring to Tennessee. He caught 39 passes for 885 yards and seven touchdowns in two seasons with the Vols, including a career year in 2024, with 26 catches for 661 yards and six touchdowns.

Norman-Lott had 10 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks in 23 games over two seasons at Tennessee and finished with 17 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks over five seasons of college football.

Pearce took Al Wilson’s famous No. 27 at Tennessee and lived up to the hype, finishing his career with the Vols with 30 tackles for loss and 19.5 sacks, including 28 tackles for loss and 17.5 sacks in 26 games over the last two seasons. 

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