James Pearce Jr., Edge Tennessee: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Pearce was a four-star recruit from Julius L. Chambers High School in Charlotte, N.C. in the class of 2022

The hype around Tennessee pass rusher James Pearce Jr. is warranted. He’s far from a lock to go first overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, but his name will definitely be in the conversation.

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James Pearce Jr., Edge Tennessee: 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Junior outside linebacker from Charlotte, N.C.

Background: Pearce was a four-star recruit from Julius L. Chambers High School in Charlotte, N.C. in the class of 2022. He was the No. 202 recruit according to 247Sports, No. 160 for Rivals, and No. 137 for On3.com. Pearce was an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 79 grade out of 100. As a high school senior, he totaled 14.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss, nine pass breakups, three forced fumbles, two safeties, and two interceptions. Pearce earned a Second Team All-State selection from HighSchoolOT.com as a junior. He led Chambers to four consecutive North Carolina Class 4A State Championship Games and won titles in 2019 and 2020. Pearce was invited to the 2021 Carolina Bowl All-Star Game. He also played basketball in high school. Pearce was born on Oct. 12, 2003.

Injuries & Off-Field: Arrested in Dec. 2023 with misdemeanor criminal charges for speeding, driving on a suspended license, failure to present insurance, registration improperly displayed, and improper window tinting – police claim he did not follow instructions during the traffic stop – but the misdemeanor charges were dismissed

Awards: 2023 First Team All-SEC

Pros: Special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, and field goal block units, arm length will check the box, motor runs hot, accelerates off the line quickly, explosive linear and horizontal strides, covers ground quickly with long strides, explosiveness challenges tackles up the arc, fires hands into tackle’s chest and displaces them with leg drive, funnels power through his hands, putting tackles on skates is common, powerful inside hand helps pry open B-gap, pushes vertically before bouncing back into the B-gap, powerful swipes, two-handed swipe, club move, inside and outside swim, speed to power, outside speed rush, developmental spin move, long-arm move, works a long-arm into a rip, rip move, chop, engages and then withdraws hands to slip around OT’s outside shoulder, spin move to free himself from blocks, speed to make plays as a backside run defender, slips TE blocks in run game, smooth mover with sharp COD, mobility and fluidity for intermediate and shallow zone drops, solid awareness and vision in zone, reads the QB’s eyes in coverage

Cons: Lean frame, narrow lower half, slightly high-hipped, occasional upright pad level as a rusher, struggles to overpower thicker tackles, struggles to power through jump sets, limited bend to get low and flatten outside rush angle, inconsistent execution of swim move, limited mid-rush counters to revive dying reps, doesn’t counter to break clamps, fairly unproductive vs. UConn’s Chase Lundt (2023), power was mostly neutralized vs. Alabama (2023), firm punches to his shoulder in half-man disrupt rush trajectory, knocked off path by interior o-linemen on stunts, counters into the B-gap could be sharper, some issues corralling QBs once he gets into the backfield, struggles to disengage from blocks quickly, anchor strained vs. linemen pushing vertically

Overview: Pearce has special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, and field goal block units. He primarily aligns in three and two-point stances as a 5-tech and wide-9. He also occasionally reduces inside as a 4-tech or 4i but won’t play those roles a significant amount in the NFL. Pearce’s arm length checks the necessary boxes. He has a lean frame that’s slightly high-hipped with a narrow lower half, but there’s still room for him to fill out and eventually check the league’s preferred weight boxes. Pearce accelerates off the line quickly and has the explosiveness to exchange gaps suddenly or push offensive tackles vertically. He fires his hands into the tackles’ chests and displaces them with his leg drive. The junior funnels power through his hands to stun linemen and put them on their heels. Those powerful hands also help Pearce pry open the B-gap. The North Carolina native also accesses the B-gap by pushing vertically before bouncing back inside with his agility. His pass rush plan includes powerful swipes, clubs, swims, speed rushes, long-arms, rips, chops, and converting speed to power. Pearce also has a developmental spin move that isn’t game-ready yet. Sometimes he establishes his hand placement on the tackle’s pads before withdrawing them, basically pulling the chair out from under the lineman and making it easy for him to slip past. Pearce occasionally plays with a high pad level. He struggles to overpower thicker offensive tackles and hasn’t developed a reliable counter for jump sets. His reliance on power rushes backfired against Alabama (2023) when the Crimson Tide largely overmatched him. The former four-star recruit doesn’t have the high level bend to flatten his outside rush angles and win around the edge consistently. His swim move and mid-rush counters need significant development. Pearce doesn’t counter to break clamps at a high level, which results in him being stuck on blocks. Firm punches disrupt his rush angle and push him off his arc. Once he gets into the backfield, Pearce has some trouble corralling quarterbacks and matching their agility. In the run game, he uses a spin move to get free from blocks. The All-SEC selection has the speed to make plays as a backside run defender. He’s a smooth mover with sharp change of direction skills that really pop in coverage. He has the mobility and fluidity to be trusted with shallow and intermediate zone drops. Pearce has rare awareness and vision in zone coverages for a pass rusher. He even reads the quarterback’s eyes while in coverage. Pearce’s lack of size makes it difficult for him to escape blocks quickly in the run game, and his anchor is strained or broken by linemen pushing vertically.

Overall, Pearce has the athletic traits and well-developed pass rush foundation to be the most productive edge rusher from the 2025 NFL Draft. He still needs to refine his counters to help produce pressure versus larger offensive linemen, but his explosiveness and existing pass rush plan are already exciting.

Role & Scheme Fit: Outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme

Round Grade: First Round

Size: 6'5", 242 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 05-19-24