The NFL invited six Tennessee football players to its annual scouting combine ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft including three offensive and three defensive players.
Defensive linemen James Pearce Jr, Omarr Norman-Lott and Elijah Simmons as well as running back Dylan Sampson and receivers Dont’e Thornton and Bru McCoy were amongst the 327 players invited to the combine.
Tennessee’s six invitations gives them tied for the 12th most along with Arkansas, North Carolina and Clemson. Six different SEC schools had more players invited to the combine including Georgia (14), Texas (14), South Carolina (11), Alabama (9), Florida (9) and LSU (8). Ohio State led the nation with 15 players receiving invites to the NFL Draft.
Pearce is the highest projected Tennessee draft pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The two-year starter for Tennessee totaled 38 tackles and 7.5 sacks during his junior season. While his sack numbers were down from his sophomore year, Pearce led the SEC in quarterback hurries.
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Omarr Norman-Lott and Elijah Simmons were key cogs of Tennessee’s defensive tackle rotation over the past few seasons. Simmons totaled 11 tackles as a run stopping defensive tackle last season while Norman-Lott totaled 18 tackles and finished second on the Vols’ roster with four sacks.
Sampson has a record-breaking season carrying the football for Tennessee. The junior tailback rushed for 1,491 yards and 22 touchdowns on 258 carries in his breakout season. Sampson broke Tennessee football’s single-season rushing yards and rushing touchdowns record.
Thornton and McCoy were two of Tennessee’s three top outside receivers last season. Thornton led the Vols with 661 receiving yards and six touchdowns while McCoy led Tennessee with 39 receptions for 472 yards and two touchdowns.
NFL mock drafts predict Pearce to go in the first round while the five other Tennessee players invited to the combine project to go later on.
The 2025 NFL Combine is from Feb. 27 to March 2 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
