Look: Tennessee's James Pearce has fourth-best odds to be No. 1 pick in 2025 NFL Draft
Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce has the fourth-best odds to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, according to lines released Monday by BetOnline. Pearce was given 7/1 odds, trailing only Colorado quarterback Shadeur Sanders, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck and Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers.
Sanders was given 5/2 odds (+250), Beck had 4/1 odds and Ewers was 5/1. Behind Pearce was Penn State quarterback Drew Allar and Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, both at 12/1. Colorado wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter was also listed at 12/1.
Georgia defensive lineman Mykel Williams was the first defense-only player listed after Pearce at 16/1. LSU linebacker Harold Perkins was next at 22/1.
Pearce as a sophomore last season led Tennessee’s defense with 10.0 sacks, 14.5 tackles for loss and had 16 quarterback hits. He played 462 snaps in 13 games, with 246 pass-rushing snaps and 182 snaps in run defense. He ended his breakout sophomore season by taking an interception back for a touchdown in the win over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl.
Pro Football Focus on Saturday ranked Pearce No. 1 on its Way-Too-Early Top-50 Big Board for the 2025 NFL Draft.“
Pearce was one of the most fearsome pass-rushers in the country as a sophomore,” PFF’s Max Chadwick wrote. “His 92.4 PFF pass-rushing grade and 21.3% pressure rate ranking third among FBS edge defenders.
“The scary part about those numbers is that he was winning almost exclusively off his athleticism last year, meaning he can become nearly unblockable with some added pass-rushing moves.”
ESPN NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller also wrote in January that Pearce could have potentially been the first defensive player selected in this year’s NFL Draft.
“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,” Miller wrote for ESPN in January. Expectations are high for Pearce, but his speed and savvy pass-rush moves are worthy of the hype.”
PFF last week, before the 2024 NFL Draft started, released a mock draft that included every player in college football. Pearce was the No. 8 overall pick to the Atlanta Falcons in that hypothetical and was the first player from the 2025 draft class to show up in the PFF mock draft.
Pearce was Tennessee’s highest-rated defender last season with the 91.0 overall grade, coming in ahead of Jaylen McCollough (85.8), Kamal Hadden (85.7) and Keenan Pili (80.8).
In March PFF looked ahead to the 2025 NFL Draft board and asked if Pearce could be the No. 1 overall pick.
“He has freakish explosiveness at 6-foot-5 and 242 pounds,” Chadwick wrote at the time, “and he converts speed to power at an elite level. With the 2025 NFL Draft looking like it’ll feature a weaker quarterback class, there’s a real chance that Pearce could be the No. 1 overall pick.”
