James Pearce Jr. Draws Giants’ Kayvon Thibodeaux Comp

First Round Mock’s NFL Draft Analyst Thomas Coletta returns with an evaluation of James Pearce Jr., one of the top pass-rushing prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft.

James Pearce Jr. is a 6-foot-5, 243-pound edge rusher who burst onto the scene last season as a sophomore.

2023 Review

• 10.0 Sacks
• 20.2% Pressure Rate (3rd in the FBS)

Pearce won ALL SEC Honors, which now makes him a candidate to go high in the eyes of mainstream draft media (nflmockdraftdatabase.com).

With all this chatter about him going that high, I wanted to do a deep dive into his 2023 game film.

South Carolina

Game Film link

This was the first game I watched where he put up two sacks against quarterback Spencer Rattler, who went on to be drafted by the New Orleans Saints. Pearce dominated from the get-go and he was lined up all over the field. He provided pressure no matter where he was or where he positioned himself pre-snap. On one of the plays, he pancaked the Gamecocks’ offensive tackle, which showed how strong he is despite being a bit undersized.

Alabama

Game film link

I wanted to see if this was just a one-time thing so I wanted to see the match-up against the Crimson Tide’s two starting offensive tackles, freshman Kadyn Proctor and J.C. Latham, who went No. 7 overall to the Tennessee Titans this past draft. Pearce was pretty dang good again versus the two of them (one sack), but his lack of strength showed at times as he would get clamped up by the tackle on certain plays attempting to bullrush. When he would lineup in a formation that disguised the blitz, he would catch the tackle off guard and get his share of pressure. This was evident on the strip sack against their quarterback Jalen Milroe. After seeing how he did against one of the best offensive lines in the country, Pearce’s potential is scary to me as this guy could be an elite edge rusher on Sundays.

Virginia

Game film link

Pearce posted two more sacks and dominated this game. He made the Virginia tackles look bad as he was in a league of his own. He showed he could bull rush and a good-looking swim move to get into the pocket.

Strengths

• Athleticism
• Instincts
• Arm length

Those are listed in the order I see them. Pearce is a freaky athlete off the edge, who uses his arm length to defeat opposing offensive linemen. His technique pops and he uses it to compensate for being a tad undersized. He showed this technique consistently. He just has a feel for things and he’s hard to fool with misdirection or playaction. Pearce’s timing is another thing that stands out ⎯which further gives him an advantage over opposing offensive linemen.

Weaknesses

• Weight

I don’t mean to be repetitive, but his biggest weaknesses stem from being 243 pounds. He’s going to have to bulk up some to bull rush effectively, stop the run better, and just plain hold his own better against the big boys ⎯the offensive tackles in the NFL. More time in the weight room would help fix some of this.

2025 NFL Draft

Pro Comparison: Kayvon Thibodeaux (New York Giants)

I think both Pearce and Thibodeaux share similar physical builds as both are 6’5 and Thibodeaux weighs about 15 pounds more but coming out of college both were a bit undersized weight-wise.

However, both showed they were dominant college pass rushers. I think both of these pass rushers are dangerous and opposing offenses need to keep a close eye on them. Otherwise, their quarterback can be on the ground, or worse, the ball could be loose on the ground too.

Draft Grade: First-Round

In 2024 at Tennessee, I expect Pearce to have a similar type of season and put up 10+ sacks (ALL SEC player) as he does what he can do to help Tennessee compete for a spot in the college playoffs.

Bottom line

I can easily see Pearce producing eight-plus sacks per season in the NFL.

Thomas Coletta is an aspiring NFL General Manager and he’s a senior at Florida State University studying Sports Management. He is from Windermere, Florida, and grew up a huge Patriots fan. He currently writes NFL Draft prospects articles on FirstRoundMock, and is hoping to get his name recognized.