Josh Heupel Explains James Pearce Jr.’s NFL Draft Hype saying….
Josh Heuepl, the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers, responded to reports from multiple sources that edge rusher James Pearce Jr. would be selected first overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. Several mock drafts had Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr. as the top pick overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. He is regarded as the best returning defensive talent in collegiate football and was chosen for the 2023 All-SEC first team. Although Pearce is getting a lot of attention, head coach Josh Heupel pointed out that he still has a long way to go before the NFL Draft the following year. He did, however, go beyond with his compliments and gave an explanation for why Pearce attained his dominating heights at such a young age. Heupel told reporters, “It does speak to his talent and some of the things that he’s done on the football field.” James is a tall, athletic man. He has written numerous plays. James still has a lot to learn about the game in order to be able to play as well as he wants to and at the level he can regularly play. He is still a young participant in our program. I use that to imply that he had two falls under his belt with us and wasn’t a mid-year enrollee. We still anticipate that he will continue to progress significantly and tackle the season the
