#27

James Pearce Jr.

Former defensive lineman at Tennessee. 2024: 7.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 38 tackles.

DL · Tennessee · Jr. · #27

6′5″ · 243 lb · Charlotte, NC

CFB Index 83 · #36 of 426 edge rushersLow confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamAtlanta — drafted 2025, Rd 1, Pick 26, #26 overall

Recruiting

4★

EDGE recruit

No. 202 nationally · Signed with Tennessee

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former defensive lineman at Tennessee. 2024: 7.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 38 tackles.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Tennessee in 2022.
Drafted round 1 by the Atlanta in 2025.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Tennessee, 19 sacks, a first-team All-Conference season (2023) — drafted at #26 overall by Atlanta.

His career

He arrived as a blue-chip recruit and played like one.

20224 games

Signed with Tennessee4-star out of Chambers

202312 games

The role got bigger.

All-SECfirst

202412 games

All-SECfirst

2025

Drafted by Atlantaround 1, pick 26

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#202 national

CFB

College

Tennessee

2022–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

R1 · #26

Atlanta · 2025

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

4 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-SEC · 1ST TEAM

All-SEC 1st team (2024)

Coaching lineage · 2022–2024

1 coach

2022–2024

Josh Heupel

Tennessee

Played his entire career under Josh Heupel.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

AtlantaEntering 2nd NFL season

#26Rd 1 · Pick 26

AtlantaEntering 2nd NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Josh Heupel — 30-9 over that span.

2022Tennessee11-2HC: Josh Heupel · Run-leaning

2023Tennessee9-4HC: Josh Heupel · Run-leaning

2024Tennessee10-3HC: Josh Heupel · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

83All-Conference level #36 of 426?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (99th percentile). Strength: sacks (99th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

QB hurries#14 / 2892 · 99th pct

Sacks#38 / 2892 · 99th pct

7.5

Tackles for loss#41 / 2892 · 98th pct

13.0

Solo tackles#886 / 2892 · 69th pct

Tackles#1002 / 2892 · 65th pct

Passes defended#1155 / 2892 · 49th pct

Forced fumbles#55 / 700 · 46th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	3.2	1.2	1.0	0.0
Road6g	3.2	1.0	0.2	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.7	1.0	0.3	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	2.7	1.2	0.9	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Josh Heupel

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

83 · #36 of 426 edge rushers

Former four-star. Now #36 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Tennessee	38	23	13.0	7.5	1	--	--
2023	Tennessee	27	18	14.0	9.5	--	1	--
2022	Tennessee	5	3	2.0	2.0	--	--	--
Career		70	44	29.0	19.0	1	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2024

W 24–17

vs Alabama

3 TOT · 2 SOLO · 1 SACKS

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 7 at home.

With N. Iamaleava — 194 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 81.2 · 44 rush yds (9 car) · J. Ross — 46 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 49 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 2	W 51-10@ NC State	1	0	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 71-0vs Kent State	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	W 25-15@ Oklahoma	2	1	0.5	0.5	—	0
Wk 6	L 14-19@ Arkansas	9	5	2.0	1.0	—	1	Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 7	W 23-17vs Florida	7	3	1.0	0.5	—	0
Wk 8	W 24-17vs Alabama	3	2	1.5	1.5	—	0
Wk 10	W 28-18vs Kentucky	1	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 33-14vs Mississippi State	4	2	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 17-31@ Georgia	3	3	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 56-0vs UTEP	4	3	2.5	2.0	—	0	2 sacks
Wk 14	W 36-23@ Vanderbilt	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Bowl	L 17-42@ Ohio State	3	3	2.0	0.0	—	0
Total		38	23	13.0	7.5	—	1

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology