Falcons head coach Raheem Morris revealed that he wanted to draft former Tennessee Vols edge rusher James Pearce because of his attitude
Ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, there was a lot of discussion about Tennessee Vols edge rusher James Pearce's "character". Pearce, who was selected in the first round of the draft by the Atlanta Falcons, was labeled as a player with character concerns despite mostly keeping a low profile during his time at Tennessee. Falcons […]
Ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, there was a lot of discussion about Tennessee Vols edge rusher James Pearce's "character".
Pearce, who was selected in the first round of the draft by the Atlanta Falcons, was labeled as a player with character concerns despite mostly keeping a low profile during his time at Tennessee.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris told reporters on Tuesday the "edge" that Pearce plays with is a big reason why Atlanta drafted the former Vol.
"It was a part of our draft [plan]," said Morris when asked about the edge that Pearce plays with. "We wanted to add a little edge to our football team. We wanted to add a little edge to our rush. All of the really great football players that I've been around, they got edge. They got a little bit of edge when rushing the passer, when you're talking about some of the great pass rushers — whether it's Aaron Donald, Von Miller, Warren Sapp, Simeon Rice.
Any of these guys who rush the passer, they have a little bit of edge. Part of our whole draft, part of our whole philosophy, part of our practice, part of us becoming the team that we want to be and going out and actually doing some of these things is acquiring players with some natural edge. That is
definitely a part of it. Definitely a part of what we want. That's definitely a part of who we are."
Pearce was involved in a couple of training camp scuffles this past weekend.
Pearce is definitely bringing a "nasty" attitude to the Falcons' defense. The Charlotte, NC native just has to make sure he keeps his emotions in check and doesn't hurt his team while playing with an "edge".
