James Pearce Jr. Headlines Top Returning Players List

Tennessee football's James Pearce Jr. headlines a list of the top 25 returning players in college football for 2024 season.

Tennessee defensive lineman James Pearce Jr. (27) points at a flag thrown against Texas A&M during a football game between Tennessee and Texas A&M at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. / Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA

Tennessee football's James Pearce Jr. headlines a list of the top 25 returning players in college football for 2024 season.

The Tennessee Volunteers are entering an exciting 2024 season. They will have some new faces on both sides of the ball while also returning several key contributors from a season ago. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava has garnered quite a bit of attention this offseason as he prepares to be the full-time starter, but edge rusher James Pearce Jr. is perhaps the most notable name amongst the group.

Pearce Jr. has been labeled as one of the top players in college football and as a potential first-overall pick for the 2025 NFL draft. He is the focal point of Tennessee's defense and will play a huge factor in the Volunteers' success this season. 247 sports released their list of top 25 returning players for the 2024 college football season, and Pearce Jr. came in at number one on the list. Here is what the outlet wrote about him:

"Pearce ranks in a tie for the fourth most sacks amongst returning players after he racked up 10 last season as the SEC's top edge rusher. He is the early favorite to come off the board first at the 2025 NFL Draft."

Last season, Pearce Jr. racked up 14.5 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and 28 total tackles as a sophomore. Some outlets are claiming he is the best player in college football, and he is certainly one of, if not, the best edge defenders in the sport.

Brett Kollmann annually ranks hundreds of prospects for the NFL Draft cycle and has gotten an early start on his homework for next year's class. He took to X on Tuesday afternoon to give Pearce an interesting NFL comparison. Aldon Smith.

The San Francisco 49ers selected Aldon Smith with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. He made an All-Pro first-team during his second season in the NFL, tallying 19.5 sacks and becoming one of the league's breakout stars. Off-field concerns derailed his career, but his playing heights were extremely high. Pearce was a consensus All-SEC first-team selection during his sophomore season and hopes to achieve even greater things next year.

If Pearce Jr. goes first overall, he would be the first Volunteer to do so since 1998 when quarterback Peyton Manning was the first name called. He has already joined an elite list of college football players, but he has the opportunity to do some very special things in 2024 and put him even higher up on those lists and deeper into Tennessee history books.

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