I’M LIVING’ A Star Player Rejected $780.3million Contract Just For…

ESPN listed Vols edge rusher James Pearce as the top pass rusher in college football entering the 2024 season.

From ESPN: Tennessee signed six blue-chippers in its 2022 recruiting class. Pearce wasn’t one of them, but he had a blue-chipper’s offer list — Georgia, Florida State, Oklahoma, Texas and so on — and in only his first season as a regular, he quickly developed into one of the best pass-rushers in the sport. He was seventh nationally with 10 sacks and fifth with 11 sacks created (first pressures on what eventually became sacks). He boasted a 19% pressure rate (third nationally) and created pressure within 2.5 seconds of the snap on 10% of his pass rushes (also third). He brought down the quarterback at least once in eight of 13 games, and he created at least three pressures in eight contests, including five of his last six. He was Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded SEC defensive lineman.

Pearce is listed at a lanky 6-foot-5, 242 pounds, but he proved capable doing damage against the run too, finishing the season with 10 run stops — he was one of only 12 defenders (and one of only two in the SEC) with double-digit run stops and sacks. He is an absolute menace, and as he enters only his third year of college, he might still have more room to develop.

Remember the hype that surrounded Texas A&M edge rusher Myles Garrett entering his junior season in 2016? Or the hype that Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson received in 2022?

That’s the kind of hype that Pearce is already receiving ahead of the 2024 season. The former four-star recruit has a legitimate chance to be the No. 1 overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft