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Tennessee football's James Pearce Jr. runs fastest 40-yard time among DL at NFL combine
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- Tennessee football's James Pearce Jr. runs fastest 40-yard time among DL at NFL combine
Tennessee football edge rusher James Pearce Jr. may land in the first round of the NFL Draft in April.
Pearce's draft stock was only helped on Thursday during the NFL scouting combine when he ran a 4.47 unofficial 40-yard dash time in his second try, the fastest among defensive linemen.
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Running with a T-shirt hoodie (NFL Network reported he forgot his other athletic shirt), Peace also tied the fastest 10-yard split time at 1.58 seconds during his first run, which was timed at 4.50 seconds.
"That was an easy 4.5," NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said after his first sprint.
The NFL Network broadcast compared Pearce's size and speed to New York Giants edge rusher Brian Burns , a two-time Pro Bowl selection who was a first-round pick by the Carolina Panthers at 16th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.
GENTRY ESTES: With Tennessee's James Pearce sliding in mock drafts, here's his plan at NFL combine
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James Pearce NFL mock draft: Where the Tennessee football edge rusher may land in the NFL Draft
Pearce is considered to be in the second tier of edge rushers behind possible No. 1 overall pick Abdul Carter from Penn State. Here are the latest mock draft projections for Pearce:
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Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN.com : Not listed
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Bucky Brooks, NFL.com : Philadelphia Eagles , No. 32 overall
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Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times : Baltimore Ravens , No. 28 overall
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee Vols James Pearce Jr. runs fastest 40 among DL at NFL combine
