With the first week of the college football season less than two weeks away, the Associated Press released its two Preseason All-American teams on Monday afternoon.
Two Tennessee football players landed on the All-American teams with edge rusher James Pearce Jr. landing as the first team defensive end and Cooper Mays landing as the second team center.
Pearce is coming off a brilliant sophomore season where he totaled 27 tackles, 9.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception. The talented edge rusher 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 this 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.
Mays is entering his super senior season in Tennessee’s program and has been the Vols’ starting center since the 2021 season. Injuries have hampered Mays throughout his career but he’s been an effective interior offensive lineman when he’s been able to stay healthy.
The Knoxville native’s importance was evident last year when Tennessee’s offensive line struggled badly early in the season when he was out of the lineup and improved greatly after he returned.
Eighteen total SEC players landed on the two teams including 10 on the first team. Georgia led the way with four players followed by Alabama with three players, LSU and Oklahoma with two players and Texas, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Kentucky and Missouri with one player.
