Phil Steele ranks James Pearce Jr. as the No. 1 defensive end in college football
Phil Steele has James Pearce Jr. ranked as the No. 1 defensive end in college football this season. The junior edge rusher came in ahead of Georgia’s Mykel Williams, Texas A&M’s Nic Scourton, Ohio State’s J.T. Tuimoloau and Florida State’s Patrick Payton.
The rest of the top 25 was Jack Sawyer (Ohio State), Marvin Jones Jr. (Florida State), Landon Jackson (Arkansas), Dani Dennis-Sutton (Penn State), Ashton Gillette (Louisville), Ethan Burke (Texas), Princely Umanmielen (Ole Miss), Jah Joyner (Minnesota), Derrick Moore (Michigan), Jordan Burch (Oregon), Steve Linton (Baylor), David Bailey (Stanford), Jasheen Davis (Wake Forest), RJ Oben (Notre Dame), Akeem Mesidor (Miami), Shemar Stewart (Texas A&M), Jared Ivey (Ole Miss), Barryn Sorrel (Texas), Tyler Batty (BYU) and Fadil Diggs (Syracuse).
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.
ESPN has James Pearce as No. 4 overall pick in latest NFL mock draft
ESPN’s latest mock draft for the 2025 NFL Draft not only has Pearce as the No. 4 overall pick to the Tennessee Titans.
NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller last week published his latest mock draft for ESPN, referring to Pearce as “my preseason No. 1 overall player” despite being projected as the No. 4 overall pick.
Pearce finished fifth overall in the Pro Football Focus defensive ratings last season, with a 91.0 grade. He was just behind UCLA’s Laiatu Latu (96.2), Marshall’s Elijah Alston (91.2) and SMU’s Elijah Roberts (91.2). Pearce was third in pass rush with a season grade of 92.4, behind Latu (94.2) and Texas State’s Ben Ball (93.0).
‘Pearce is a 6-5, 242-pound blur rushing off the edge’
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.”
