Tennessee made history on Thursday night as James Pearce Jr learned where he will begin his NFL career. The Atlanta Falcons drafted the Vols’ elite pass rusher with the No. 26 pick in the draft.
The Falcons clearly wanted to make sure Pearce joined them in Atlanta at the end of the first night of the NFL Draft, as they traded back into the first round to draft Pearce.
The Falcons traded two picks from this year’s draft and next year’s first-round pick for the Rams’ No. 26 and No. 101 overall picks in this year’s draft.
ESPN dropped Pearce throughout the draft process. He went from a top-ten pick to outside the first round in mock drafts, but ESPN shared some positive praise after the Falcons drafted him at No. 26.
“Pearce was heavily connected to the Falcons in the pre-draft process — I even had them taking him at No. 15 in my final mock draft — and they move back into Round 1 to get the high upside pass rusher with elite speed,” ESPN writes about Pearce.
“Atlanta paid a hefty price to move up from No. 46 for Pearce, which speaks to its belief in his ability to impact the game. Pearce’s ability to play in space is exactly what coach Raheem Morris’ scheme needs.”
Tennessee makes history with Pearce drafted in the first round
The pick also made history for the Vols. It marks the first time a school has consecutive first-round draft picks in the NFL, NBA, WNBA, and MLB drafts.
Tennessee had Dalton Knecht (NBA), Rickea Jackson (WNBA), and Christian Moore (MLB) drafted in their respective drafts at the end of last season, and now Pearce joins the long list of Tennessee players drafted in the first round.
