James Pearce Jr. Ranked as Top 10 Edge Defender in College Football

Tennessee football's James Pearce Jr. ranked as a top ten edge defender in all of college football.

Jan 1, 2024; Orlando, FL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers defensive lineman James Pearce Jr. (27), linebacker Elijah Herring (44) and defensive back Jaylen McCollough (2) celebrate a sack against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the third quarter at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-USA TODAY Sports / Morgan Tencza-USA TODAY Sports

Tennessee football's James Pearce Jr. ranked as a top ten edge defender in all of college football.

Discussions of the 2025 NFL draft have already started despite it only being May in 2024 and James Pearce Jr. is one of the first names to consistently be brought up when talking about the first round of next year's class. The Tennessee edge has NFL draft analysts raving about him for all of the right reasons, but he still has a whole season left with the Volunteers, which makes him one of the best players in the sport.

PFF's Max Chadwick recently released his top 10 edge defenders in all of college football, and while he didn't put a number by any names, Pearce Jr. was at the top of the list. Here is what Chadwick had to say about the Volunteer:

"Pearce is a freak athlete at 6-foot-5 and 242 pounds. On his pick-six against Iowa in the Citrus Bowl, he hit a top speed of 23 miles per hour according to our player-tracking data. That was among the 15 fastest top speeds in the country, regardless of position.  Pearce uses that athleticism to dominate as a pass-rusher, placing third in both pressure rate (21.3%) and pass-rush grade (92.3) among FBS edge defenders. The scariest part about those numbers is that he was winning almost exclusively off of his explosiveness and ability to convert speed to power. If Pearce can develop some more moves/counters and get stronger as a run-defender, he can be nearly unblockable. He’s one of the top candidates to be the No. 1 overall pick next April."

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.

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