While there’s tremendous excitement and optimism around quarterback Nico Iamaleava entering his first season as Tennessee’s starting quarterback, there’s more hype around junior defensive end James Pearce Jr. than any other player on the Vols’ roster. In fact, there may be more hype around Pearce than any other player in the country.
ESPN certainly views it that way. A day after pegging Pearce as a Preseason First Team All-American, the site listed the Tennessee edge rusher as its top player in college football entering the season.
“Entering his third season at Tennessee, the 6-5, 243-pound Pearce is the top pass rusher in the country despite having started only three career games,” ESPN wrote. “He’s projected as a top-10 pick in the 2025 NFL draft and has 16.5 tackles for loss and 12 sacks in his first two seasons. Pearce was a first-team All-SEC selection last season by both the AP and coaches after ranking fifth nationally with 38 total pressures.”
Pearce is coming off a breakout sophomore season where he totaled 27 tackles, 9.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a pick six after a freshman year where he played little. The talented LEO recorded the most sacks by a Tennessee player since Derek Barnett in 2016 and is looking to become the Vols’ first double-digit sack man since Barnett in his junior season.
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The 6-foot-5, 243-pound defensive end took over in three of Tennessee’s best wins during the 2024 season. Pearce recorded two sacks against South Carolina, one sack against Texas A&M and a sack, forced fumble and a pick six in the Vols’ Citrus Bowl win over Iowa. In all three games, Pearce lived in the opponents’ backfield.
