Prospect Profile: James Pearce Jr., EDGE, Tennessee

Evaluation

Get Off

It is clear that he gets off the ball scarily well in obvious passing situations. He is able to gain ground remarkably quickly and immediately put the Offensive Linemen in a tough situation. He can dip his shoulder to take the edge, and in these situations, he gets his hands on quickly. This changes dramatically in neutral downs when he has to read run/pass. In these situations, his get-off is only adequate and he is a far less dynamic pass rusher through the rest of the rep.

Rushing the Passer

As a pass-rusher the first thing that sticks out, after his remarkable athletic gifts, is his rush plan. He has a solid plan to take on edge-rushers but he is unable to adapt in-rep. He might have the OL off-balance with a power move, but he doesn’t then hammer his advantage home, it looks as though he dogmatically sticks to his plan of action at the outset of the play. This type of approach renders his counters a little obsolete as they are not reactive and don’t take what the Offensive Linemen is giving him. He also lacks variety in his counters and the moves he deploys when cornering. His hands are active and often well-timed and well-placed but there is little power and OL with heavy hands can latch on and end the contest early. He has an accurate and well-timed long-arm move with which he consistently compromises the integrity of the pocket. He has a club-swim and a speed rip which also serve him well, as well as the beginnings of a cross-chop. The issue with all of these, and his counters, are that the lack of power in his hands does not allow him to disengage effectively from those OL with good play strength and good hand usage themselves. He does use his footwork well to keep the OL off-balance and he moves well laterally, using his explosion to be effective on inside moves and stunts and games, he uses this and works off this potential to his upfield moves. When he tries to convert speed to power and finish, he can raise his pad level too much and lose all play strength, especially when coming inside onto interior linemen. The main concern in his pass rush, which is full of potential, is his finishing on the QB, his athletic gifts and the pass rush skills he has, can put him in position to be two-three steps away from affecting the Quarterback, but he is not able to clear his hands and affect the Quarterback as much as his play suggests he could. Generally his pass rush is better when he’s working from a wider alignment and standing up, than from tighter in and a 3-point stance.

Defending the Run

The same is true of his run defense as his pass rush in that his processing puts him behind the 8-ball somewhat from the very beginning of the play. He is not quick to react on neutral downs and it can cause him issues with more complex running games. He doesn’t see trap blocks and kick-out blocks coming across the formation. He could diagnose Gap blocks and Zone blocks more quickly as he also struggles to work effectively against double teams, even after the single OL has overtaken the block at the line of scrimmage. He can also get lethally pinned when facing pin and pull. He will meet the OT when setting the edge with an accurate and well-timed strike and can marginally constrict the running lane. He won’t always tackle the runner in his gap but will do enough to affect the Running Back’s path and therefore the success of the play. He’s a far better run defender when you can get him on the move early and allow him to penetrate into the backfield. He’s good in pursuit as a backside defender against Outside Zone.

DRAFTED RAVEN COMP
David Ojabo

PRODUCTION
Final year on campus: 8 Sacks, 4 QB Hits, 29 Total Tackles, 1 FF
INJURY HISTORY: None

RAVENS FIT
Athleticism 5
Intelligence 2
Versatility 3
Grit 3
Scheme 4