Where Tennessee's James Pearce is ranked on The Athletic's College Football Freaks list
James Pearce came in at No. 17 on Bruce Feldman’s College Football Freaks list on Tuesday. He was one of two Tennessee Football players named to the list by The Athletic, which ranked the 101 freakiest athletes in the sport.
Junior receiver Squirrel White was ranked No. 59, making the cut for a second straight year after being ranked No. 64 a year ago.
“The SEC’s top returning pass rusher wasn’t listed as one of the 10 fastest Vols in the EA Sports College Football 25 video game,” Feldman wrote of Pearce, “but we would put him there after his dazzling display In the Citrus Bowl. Pearce clocked 23 mph on a pick six against Iowa, turning in one of the fastest GPS measurements of any FBS play all season.”
James Pearce Jr was 1 of 15 players to reach 23 MPH on a single play last season
— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 30, 2024
Reminder: He’s a 6’5” | 242 LB Defensive End😳
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Bruce Feldman: James Pearce ‘is a legitimate 4.4 40 threat’
Pearce put an exclamation point on his breakout sophomore season in the 35-0 win over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day in Orlando, where he intercepted a pass and raced 52 yards up the sideline for the touchdown.
“One of his coaches told me that the 6-5, 245 pound junior is a legitimate 4.4 40 threat,” Feldman wrote. “According to PFF (Pro Football Focus), Pearce was the SEC’s highest graded defensive end last year at 90.9. He tied for the SEC lead in sacks (10) and was second in tackles for loss (14.5); he’s the SEC’s returning statistical leader in both of those. He had 16 quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and two forced fumbles.”
Pearce was projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft according to PFF’s projections, which were released in the Way-Too-Early Top-50 Big Board in April.
“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.”
Before the 2024 NFL Draft started in April, PFF 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.
James Pearce led Vols with 10.0 sacks, 14.5 TFLs, 16 QB hits last season
Pearce led Tennessee’s defense with 10.0 sacks as a sophomore, in tackles for loss with 14.5 and he added 16 quarterback hits. He played 462 snaps in 13 games, with 246 pass-rushing snaps and 182 snaps in run defense.
Back in March PFF looked ahead to the 2025 NFL Draft board and asked for the first time if Pearce could be a legitimate threat for 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.”
