2025 NFL Draft: James Pearce Jr. scouting report

Pearce is a designated pass-rusher at the next level who thrived in wide alignments at Tennessee

Last week, we wrote up a scouting report on the Green Bay Packers’ first major pre-draft visitor, Texas A&M edge defender Shemar Stewart. It should be no surprise that the Packers are in the defensive end market for the upcoming draft, as the team has not changed over a single name in that room other than defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich, who was fired after his unit was unable to put together a successful four-man pass rush last season.

Now, we’ll look into another potential first-round pick edge defender, James Pearce Jr. of Tennessee, who also has a visit with the Packers. As we’ve mentioned previously here at Acme Packing Company, there’s been a strong correlation between players that Green Bay brings in for its 30 allotted pre-draft visits and who they’ve actually taken following the 2021 draft. The 2021 draft is often looked at as a turning point in the scouting community, as the class featured a high bust rate in part due to the limitations that teams had on digging into the backgrounds of players.

James Pearce Jr. Scouting Report

Pearce is a little bit of a two-trick pony. Tennessee went out of their way to help him produce at a high level, which he did — earning back-to-back first-team All-SEC honors. He’s an incredibly fast player, registering a 4.47-second 40-yard dash in Indianapolis, but there’s not much to his game beyond his speed. Most concerning is his light frame at 245 pounds over a 6’5” body.

So how did the Volunteers “get away” with such a productive player? They put him in the right positions.

The clip above is what it looks like when tight ends “trade” motion across the formation versus Tennessee. Instead of bumping a linebacker or safety, the usual response to a formation strength change, the Volunteers often flipped their entire defensive box to keep Pearce as the “weak” or “open” defensive end — away from the tight end. You don’t see this a lot, but I’m sure it kept Pearce happy in his role.

Pearce was also allowed to rush from very wide alignments, like in the play above. It’s not uncommon to see him lined up closer to condensed slot receivers than offensive tackles. This is where the two-trick pony tag starts to stick. Primarily, Pearce is going to run the hoop, though his speed is significantly better than his bend. When tackles overset while on islands with the wide aligned end, Pearce often has the freedom — and the execution to warrant the freedom — to counter with an inside move that flushes quarterbacks out of the pocket.

That’s his bread and butter. That’s what earned him All-SEC honors. Unfortunately for him, ends need to contribute from tighter alignments in the NFL, which means these opportunities — as a wide-aligned end opposite of the tight end — will probably only come on third downs. So, if he’s a designated pass rusher who is limited to specific situations, where do you take him? That’s the crux of the Pearce evaluation.

A similar player to Pearce is former New York Jet and current Philadelphia Eagle Bryce Huff. Huff was a situational pass-rusher for the Jets for four years before signing a three-year, $51 million contract with the Eagles last offseason. Huff had 10 sacks in 2023, but Philadelphia only played six games with the pass-rusher as a starter in 2024. By the time the postseason came around, Huff was limited to playing just two-minute drills and garbage time for the Eagles, and he was ultimately a healthy scratch in the Super Bowl.

To put it simply: The type of playing style that Pearce brings to the table isn’t for everyone. It sure wasn’t for Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator Vic Fangio last year. While Pearce is no longer considered a top-10 pick, he is currently projected to go in the first round of the draft, per the consensus draft board. So if a team selects him anywhere near that high, they better have a concrete plan on how they want to play around weaknesses.

Pearce wasn’t asked to hold the edge a lot at the college level. Tennessee’s defense allowed him to “spike” to an inside gap, which often spilled run plays to the edge for linebackers and defensive backs to clean up. That’s the type of commitment NFL defensive coordinators would need to make to add Pearce on the field beyond obvious pass-rushing situations. Again, this way of life isn’t for every scheme or coach.

The play above might be one reason why Tennessee didn’t love Pearce’s edge-setting ability. He’s actually playing the playside B gap on this play, stacks his block and then completely misses that the ball runs right past him. Not a great mental rep, despite him playing out of position.

Despite Pearce’s negatives — his light frame, his upper body strength, his limitations in tight alignments and his ability to set the edge — he is still fast and that still has value.

The clip above is a speed option rep against Arkansas that really highlights Pearce’s speed. The play is designed to leave both edges unblocked. The frontside edge will be “optioned,” made wrong by a keep or pitch decision by the quarterback, while the backside edge — Pearce — is never supposed to make an impact on the play because of his alignment. Pearce is so fast, though, that even a moment of hesitation by the Arkansas quarterback means that the play is blown up at about the line of scrimmage.

At minimum, Pearce’s speed will mean that opposing offenses’ internal clocks will need to operate quicker, both in the passing game and when he’s made to be an unblocked defender. Unfortunately, straight-ahead runs where Pearce will have to hold a block on the edge are going to be sprinkled in the mix between those opportunities.

The Pearce evaluation is pretty simple. He should be a designated pass rusher and his limitations will need to be worked around if the plan is to get him on the field more than 200-ish snaps a year in the NFL. The big question is just how much value a player like Pearce brings to a defense and how high a player like him should go. Personally, I think he’s more of a Day 2 selection than a first-round pick.