Tennessee's James Pearce Jr. is the fourth-best player in EA Sports College Football 25
EA Sports College Football 25 is getting in on the James Pearce Jr. hype. Tennessee Football’s junior pass rusher has a 95 overall rating and is the fourth-highest rated player in the video game, which is set to release next week.
The top-rated player in the game is Michigan cornerback Will Johnson, one of three players with a 96 overall grade. Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II also has a 96 overall rating.
Pearce is one of at least seven players with a 95 rating. The other six are Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, Colorado wide receiver/corner Travis Hunter, Georgia safety Malaki Starks, Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham, Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins and Georgia right guard Tate Ratledge.
EA Sports College Football 25 to be released July 19
Pearce, the only Tennessee player ranked in College Football 25’s top 100 players, has an 88 speed ratings, a 95 acceleration rating, an 85 strength rating, a 91 awareness rating and an 85 jump rating.
College Football 25 didn’t have Tennessee in the top 25 for either team offense or team defense ratings. The game had Neyland Stadium as the 13th best home-field advantage in college football.
The game is scheduled to be released on Friday, July 19.
Pearce last season led Tennessee’s defense with 10.0 sacks during his breakout sophomore season. He also led the team in tackles for loss with 14.5 and added 16 quarterback hits. He played 462 snaps in 13 games, with 246 pass-rushing snaps and 182 snaps in run defense.
Pearce in May was ranked as the No. 1 overall player in college football by On3, with Clay Brooks ranking the top 100 players in the sport. He was ranked by Phil Steele as the No. 1 defensive end in the country and has been widely considered as one of the top picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, too.
James Pearce Jr. projected as a top-five pick in 2025 NFL Draft
ESPN’s latest mock draft for the 2025 NFL Draft has Pearce as the No. 4 overall pick to the Tennessee Titans, with NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller referring to Pearce as “my preseason No. 1 overall player” despite being projected as the fourth pick.
He’s been high on Miller’s board since January, when he reported that Pearce likely would’ve been the first defensive player picked in the 2024 NFL Draft.
“Pearce is a 6-5, 242-pound blur rushing off the edge,” Miller wrote at the time. “With 43 pressures and 9.5 sacks in 2023, Pearce established himself as one of the best pass-rushers in the SEC.
“In fact, an AFC West scout who covers the conference told me Pearce would be the first defensive player drafted in the 2024 class if he were draft-eligible. Expectations are high for Pearce, but his speed and savvy pass-rush moves are worthy of the hype.”
