Signee Breakdown: WR Chas Nimrod

The early signing period is officially in the books, and Josh Heupel's program signed 20 players on December 15th. In this series, the Volunteer Country on Sports Illustrated staff share their full breakdown of each player, complete with bio, former Tennessee player and/or current NFL player comparisons, and what the Tennessee coaches had to say about each respective signee. Please keep in mind the NFL player comparisons are just a fun look at the potential upsides of each player and are not meant to set unlofty expectations or indicate a career trajectory. 

Bio

Charles 'Chas' Nimrod

Bentonville (Arkansas)

Wide Receiver

6'3 180 pounds

What the Coaches Said

Alex Golesh: "Northwest Arkansas went to Bentonville High School, which is one of the biggest high schools, one of the best high schools in the entire country, and Chas is a young man that had some offers early. The junior film was pretty good, and we kept saying, 'Man, if we can see him in person, if we can see him in person.' He ended up coming the very last day you could in July, and I give the kid a lot of credit. He was really interested in us. The family was interested in us. We've got a lot of Northwest Arkansas ties on this staff, Kodi Burns being from Fort Smith, and he drove on his own dime out here, worked out and we all walked away from that workout saying we've got to have him. Again, another outside receiver, a young man that can run. Uber productive. Played in a really explosive offense in high school. Got coached extremely hard there by Jody Grant, and I think another young guy that's really ready to come in and contribute early, physically ready. Incredible family. Incredible young guy. Has earned his stripes, earned everything he's gotten to this point, and at the end a lot of people came at him, and boy, you talk about loyal, the entire family, they're as orange-and-white as you can get and they're super-excited. Just did his official visit last weekend. Mom bought as much stuff as she could find at the Vol Shop, so we're ready to roll. But an incredible young guy, incredible family. Just couldn't be more excited again. We need help at the receiver spot. We need outside guys, and him, along with the other guys we signed really fit. We can continue to develop that room."

Kodi Burns:

Volunteer Country's Take

Tennessee added some depth to their wide receiver room during the early signing period. Gaining that quality depth was vital with the looming departures of Venus Jones and JaVonta Payton after the bowl game. Charles 'Chas" Nimrod brings a lot to the table. Length and speed are two very good qualities of Nimrod. He has the ability to blow by defenders and get vertical for deep shots while also possessing the ability to make the catch on short to intermediate routes and turn it into the home run. 

Current NFL Player Comparison- Adam Thielen

These two possess similar size and skillsets coming out of high school. Thielen is one of the most overlooked prospects of all-time, and while Nimrod did garner college attention coming out of high school, he was still an overlooked prospect that Tennessee loved after evaluating in-person over the summer. Nimrod will add weight during his collegiate career and though Nimrod is a few inches taller, they share the ability to beat one on one coverage and their ability to separate coming off the ball makes them both hard to contain one on one. The speed with the explosion to separate and create big time plays down field seem to be very similar. If Nimrod adds some good weight and develops throughout his next 3 to 4 years, he could find himself on an NFL team being a solid contributor.