Acme Packing Company
Pearce is a designated pass-rusher at the next level who thrived in wide alignments at Tennessee
Last week, we wrote up a scouting report on the Green Bay Packers’ first major pre-draft visitor, Texas A&M edge defender Shemar Stewart. It should be no surprise that the Packers are in the defensive end market for the upcoming draft, as the team has not changed over a single name in that room other than defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich, who was fired after his unit was unable to put together a successful four-man pass rush last season.
Now, we’ll look into another potential first-round pick edge defender, James Pearce Jr. of Tennessee, who also has a visit with the Packers. As we’ve mentioned previously here at Acme Packing Company, there’s been a strong correlation between players that Green Bay brings in for its 30 allotted pre-draft visits and who they’ve actually taken following the 2021 draft. The 2021 draft is often looked at as a turning point in the scouting community, as the class featured a high bust rate in part due to the limitations that teams had on digging into the backgrounds of players.
Pearce is a little bit of a two-trick pony. Tennessee went out of their way to help him produce at a high level, which he did — earning back-to-back first-team All-SEC honors. He’s an incredibly fast player, registering a 4.47-second 40-yard dash in Indianapolis, but there’s not much to his game beyond his speed. Most concerning is his light frame at 245 pounds over a 6’5” body.
So how did the Volunteers “get away” with such a productive player? They put him in the right positions.
The clip above is what it looks like when tight ends “trade” motion across the formation versus Tennessee. Instead of bumping a linebacker or safety, the usual response to a formation strength change, the Volunteers often flipped their entire defensive box to keep Pearce as the “weak” or “open” defensive end — away from the tight end. You don’t see this a lot, but I’m sure it kept Pearce happy in his role.
Pearce was also allowed to rush from very wide alignments, like in the play above. It’s not uncommon to see him lined up closer to condensed slot receivers than offensive tackles. This is where the two-trick pony tag starts to stick. Primarily, Pearce is going to run the hoop, though his speed is significantly better than his bend. When tackles overset while on islands with the wide aligned end, Pearce often has the freedom — and the execution to warrant the freedom — to counter with an inside move that flushes quarterbacks out of the pocket.
That’s his bread and butter. That’s what earned him All-SEC honors. Unfortunately for him, ends need to contribute from tighter alignments in the NFL, which means these opportunities — as a wide-aligned end opposite of the tight end — will probably only come on third downs....
