FLOWERY BRANCH — Former Tennessee standout pass-rusher James Pearce Jr. was elated to be drafted by the Falcons in the first round (26th overall) of the NFL draft Thursday night.
Once considered one of the top players in the draft, he slipped to late in the first round. The Falcons, who perhaps overpaid in draft compensation to the Rams, got their guy.
“It was great, it was amazing,” Pearce said Thursday night about getting the call from the Falcons. “Glad to be a Falcon.”
The Falcons drafted former Georgia linebacker Jalon Walker with the 15th overall pick. Pearce could have been taken there, but when Walker slipped, the Falcons snapped him up. Walker was considered a surefire top-10 pick in most of the pre-draft analysis.
“I wasn’t leaning on it, but I knew it was a possibility or a chance of them taking an edge at 15 or a defensive player,” said Pearce, who played at Chambers High in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Pearce, 21, is 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.47 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine. He’s quick off the ball and terrorized quarterbacks in the SEC for the past three seasons.
He was the fastest defensive end/outside linebacker at the combine. He had an astonishing 55 pressures to go with 7.5 sacks last season. He was named first-team All-SEC.
Pearce had two sacks as a freshman and 10 as a sophomore. He had 19.5 sacks over a 39-game career.
The Falcons believes Pearce is the tenacious edge pass rusher they have been missing.
“Just making plays on the defensive side of the ball, a dog mentality, just ready to get to it,” Pearce said. “Ready to prove it. We’ve talked about it long enough now.”
The only football question about Pearce is if he’s too light to regularly win his battles against 300-pound NFL offensive tackles.
Pearce had an interaction with law enforcement and had some personality quirks that apparently turned off some teams. His attitude and on-the-field drive were questioned. He also had what was described as a toxic relationship with WNBA player Rickea Jackson, who was by his side on draft night.
After a traffic stop in Knoxville in December 2023, Pearce was arrested after allegedly disobeying orders. In the police report, Pearce was noted as driving 63 mph in a 35 mph zone. He also had an expired tag and a suspended license.
Falcons director of player development Fernando Velasco will make sure that Pearce’s driving papers are in order. The team’s player-development department received high marks in the most recent NFL players union report card.
New defensive line coach Nate Ollie will be charged with getting Pearce over his coachability issues. He’s only 21 and will mature over time.
Pearce was asked about his commitment to football.
“Oh, I love football,” Pearce said. “I feel like every team that I’ve been on, I had a great role on the team. A great role in us winning, and I feel like (I’ve) won with every team I was on. Fell a little short at Tennessee, but I feel like I bring a lot.”
The Falcons had a meeting with Pearce and his mother before the draft.
“Well, when I met with them previously, I was just, I just want to be as transparent as possible,” Pearce said. “I wanted (them) to know what type of player they’re getting. I want to know what type of coach I was getting and what type of GM that I was going to be able to pick the choice to be able to draft me.”
Pearce was convinced that he’d be a fit with the Falcons.
“They believed in me,” Pearce said. “They believed in my talent. They believed in my skill set. They believed in me growing as a man and ready to get better and ready to make plays for the Falcons.”
Pearce was asked if he had a chip on his shoulder because of the pre-draft issues.
“No, it’s always a chip on my shoulder,” Pearce said. “Like I said, like you just asked me a question before, what about my commitment to football? It’s always a chip on my shoulder. I love the game. I’m ready to just prove that day in and day out.”
Pearce was not on some team’s draft boards because of his issues.
“Yeah, we spend a lot of time with these prospects,” Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said. “Our scouts do a good job, boots on the ground, and they spend so much time really profiling the players and gathering all the information.”
The Falcons became comfortable with Pearce and his issues. It’s a boom-or-bust move for Fontenot.
“We spent a lot of time with him personally, everybody that’s surrounded with him. It was truly an exhaustive process, and that’s what makes us feel good about our culture and everything we are,” Fontenot said. “But that’s important — we always talk about intangibles. We want to bring in guys that love ball and love to compete.”
No one has questioned Pearce’s football talent.
“As we build this roster the right way, and we spent a lot of time with him (Pearce) making sure that he was going to fit,” Fontenot said.
Pearce and Walker flew to Flowery Branch from Charlotte on a private jet Friday.
“I just (told) him that we can just show love off Carolina,” Pearce said Friday. “We could throw the Georgia and Tennessee stuff behind us.”
Pearce is aware that the Panthers and Falcons are in the same division.
“They (get) to feel me,” Pearce said. “I get to get up and make sacks in my hometown and (go) look at me. They passed up on me, so that’ll be fun.”
Pearce was asked to describe his game.
“Electrifying,” Pearce said. “I hear a lot of people call it juice, too. So, we can say that word, too. But yeah, fun to watch, too.”
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