Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr. sneaks into the first round of the latest NFL mock draft.
The Tennessee Volunteers are going to lose some valuable contributors from the 2024 season to the NFL this offseason. One of those players is edge rusher James Pearce Jr. who was one of the biggest risers heading into the 2024 college football season. Many were mocking Pearce Jr. to be a potential first overall pick this offseason and some deemed him the best player in college football.
Pearce Jr. didn’t exactly put up those kind of numbers this season but he still was a high-impact player for the Volunteers. In 2024, he finished with 7.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss and 38 total tackles. That’s coming off of a season in which he posted 10 sacks, 15 tackles for loss and 28 total tackles.
While Pearce Jr. of course did not get any worse, his draft stock for this year has certainly taken a hit as a result. Daniel Jeremiah released his latest NFL mock draft on NFL.com and he had the former Volunteer going 32nd overall to the Kansas City Chiefs. Here is what Jeremiah had to say about Pearce Jr.
“Some people see Pearce going earlier in Round 1,” Jeremiah wrote. “While there might be a debate about where he’ll land in the draft, there’s no doubt about his elite speed and production.”
This comes after ESPN’s Mel Kiper had Pearce Jr. going 28th overall to the Detroit Lions. There appears to be a grrowing consensus that Pearce Jr. right now is labeled as a late first round pick.
Pearce Jr. will still have plenty of opportunity to raise his stock before the draft at the NFL combine, but it does seem like the chances of him being a top five overall pick are little to none now.
