James Pearce Jr. has burst onto the scene this year in a big way and has positioned himself as one of the best defensive players in college football.
Don’t believe it? Check the stats.
Pearce is the second highest-rated EDGE defender in all of college football according to Pro Football Focus this season. The Tennessee sophomore was named the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week for a second time this season after the Texas A&M game and has the second-most sacks in conference play this year.
The impressive stats continue to roll, but that should serve the point for now.
All of that to say, James Pearce Jr. has helped elevate Tennessee’s defensive line and defense in general into a feared group for opposing quarterbacks.
Tennessee’s coaching staff and players have raved about the work that Pearce put in during the offseason and into training camp, which is why no one inside the Vols’ building is surprised at the production that he is having. Through six games this season, Pearce has 13 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, and six sacks.
But while it’s impossible not to be impressed with what Pearce is doing on the field, veteran teammate Omari Thomas has been impressed with what Pearce is establishing off the field.
“You’ve seen James grow,” Thomas said on Tuesday. “The best thing for me, I’ve seen James grow off the field. Just seeing him continue to grow in the classroom, watching film, getting treatment, different things like that. It’s just good to see him grow outside the field because, honestly, everyone on our team, we knew what James could be. He’s just continuing to grow so it’s good to see that.”
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Pearce is putting in the work off the field to better prepare himself on the field. That’s not a new or revolutionary concept at the college level, but one that you don’t always see from players until they get older in their careers. Both Tennessee senior running back Jabari Small and senior defensive lineman Tyler Baron have talked this season about how much off-the-field improvements have directly made an impact on their play on the field.
Like Small and Baron, with the number of veterans that Tennessee has on the team, it’s important to keep seeing wisdom and advice being passed down from one class to the next in order to keep the culture that head coach Josh Heupel and his program have built over the last two and a half years.
