Overview

Position: EDGE

College: Tennessee

Class: Junior

Age: 21

 

Measurables

Height: 6’5 1/4”

Weight: 245 lbs.

Arm length: 32 3/4″

Hand size: 10″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.47 sec.

10-yard split: 1.56 sec.

Vertical jump: 31.0″

Broad jump: 123.0″

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Long and athletic build. Terrific overall athleticism and top-tier movement skills. Great speed and quickness/agility. Outstanding burst. Tremendous get off at the snap. Fast into the backfield. Excellent range as a finisher. Hits the quarterback with force. Exceptional balance. Able to regain his footing if knocked back. Very fluid on stunts. Impressive power in his hands to knock back offensive linemen as a rusher. Will use his strength to push back offensive tackles and capitalize with an inside move. Side-step inside moves in general are very quick. Swipe move is fast and very effective. Efficient rip move on speed rushes. Excellent ability to flatten on the speed rush. Terrific swim move. Shows a strong bull rush. Will use a spin move to free himself. Will run right through a running back on his way to the passer. Size and range can impact the quarterback without getting home. Plenty of snaps on both sides of the formation. Comfortable rushing from a very wide alignment to create a runway. Has rushed from the interior. Saw snaps standing up over the center. Outstanding instincts. Forceful into contact and wraps as a tackler. Very strong and active hands to defeat blocks. Strong holding his ground to set the edge. Aggressive getting blockers off his frame. Breaks down with patience and athleticism as the backside defender. Doesn’t overplay handoffs with the possibility of backside action. Excellent overall pushback strength when extending. Uses length to keep tight ends off him on the edge. Able to blow up plays in the backfield. Very willing to get deeper into the trenches in short-yardage situations. Extremely rare “stopper” on quarterback sneaks. Forced a fumble at the goal line on a quarterback sneak versus Florida (2024). Experience dropping back in coverage and is very active moving around. Impressive awareness as a zone defender. Will jump on running backs to cover in the flat. Showed tremendous pursuit to tackle Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka on 3rd & 1 in College Football Playoff matchup (2024). Played great versus top SEC opponents.

 

Weaknesses

Would like to see him implement counter moves to get free. Could have more relentless backside pursuit as a rusher with the quarterback rolling out. Will do everything but make the tackle for himself at times. Can be more consistent disengaging to tackle on runs right at him in the hole. Somewhat out of sorts versus Ohio State’s complex rushing scheme (2024).

 

NFL comparison

Josh Sweat

 

Conclusion

Overall, Pearce is a long, rangy, and very athletic edge defender with the all-around skillset to be an impact defender at the next level. He should be a very disruptive rusher and compares favorably to a more agile version of Josh Sweat.

 

Big Board ranking: #11 | Positional ranking: #3