The Tennessee Volunteers have been one of the most exciting teams so far in the 2024 college football season. They are off this week after defeating the Oklahoma Sooners last week and have maintained their perfect record. Both the offense and the defense have shown out through four games for the Volunteers, but the defensive dominance hasn’t been powered through one of their top players.
Edge rusher James Pearce Jr came into the season as one of the top projected players in the country and a potential first overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft. This season, he has 0.5 sack, one tackle for loss and three tackles. As a result, his draft stock has taken a bit of a hit, at least according to the latest round of mock drafts from one outlet.
CBS Sports released a list of first-round mock drafts from multiple writers, and a couple of them had Pearce Jr. slipping down the ranks compared to where he was in the preseason:
- Ryan Wilson: 7th overall, Arizona Cardinals
- Chris Trapasso: 11th overall, Washington Commanders
- Mike Renner: 1st overall, New England Patriots
- Josh Edwards: 2nd overall, Tennessee Titans
Pearce Jr is still one of the most talented players on Tennessee’s defense despite what the stats say and the stats don’t always tell the whole story of a players impact. And according to the latest mock drafts, even if his stats don’t start to increase, he is still viewed as a top-15 pick in the class.
