How long is Tennessee Vols pass-rusher James Pearce Jr. going to have to wait to hear his name called once the NFL Draft gets here? It shouldn’t be too long, as some projections have him being a Top 15 pick in the first round.
However, not everyone is as high on him. The list includes ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. In a new NFL Mock Draft from ESPN analyst Field Yates, Pearce lands with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 19 overall. Yates is a fan of the UT stud and while Kiper is also impressed with his game, he did voice some concerns on the EDGE standout with the draft a little over two months away:
Mel Kiper Jr. isn’t fully sold on Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr. ahead of the NFL Draft
“There’s some players, and I think every evaluator will admit this, there’s some players you just don’t know,” Kiper told Yates. “You really can’t feel strongly one way or the other about a player. You almost have to throw your own hands up and say, ‘I don’t get this. I can’t make a strong argument to take him or not take him’ and James Pearce Jr. is one of those guys because I thought going in based on what we saw last year in 2023 that he would be, along with Mykel Williams, maybe the No. 1 pick in this draft.”
This past campaign for the Vols and head man Josh Heupel, Pearce, a 6-5, 245-pounder, finished with 38 total tackles and 7.5 sacks. The season before, he posted 9.5 sacks, which would explain why Kiper didn’t love seeing him with a bit of a drop in production.
When listening to what Kiper had to say about Pearce, it sure seems like he’s unsure if the youngster will go on to live up to the first-round hype at the next level. From our chair, however, Pearce is a total gamer and he’ll be ready to make an immediate impact for a defense in 2025.
Tampa Bay needs to seriously improve its pass-rush, which is why it makes sense that Yates has the Bucs making a move for Pearce. Could we end up seeing Pearce fall to way lower in the first round, though? Tennessee fans sure hope not, as he’ll be ready to silence his haters from Day 1 in the pros.
