Bengals to conduct further due diligence on polarizing NFL Draft target with their latest pre-draft visit
The Cincinnati Bengals are using another Top 30 visit on a pass rusher expected to go off the board early in the 2025 NFL Draft. Per NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, Tennessee EDGE James Pearce Jr. has a pre-draft visit scheduled with the Bengals this week. Pearce played all three years (39 games) he was at […]
The Cincinnati Bengals are using another Top 30 visit on a pass rusher expected to go off the board early in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Per NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, Tennessee EDGE James Pearce Jr. has a pre-draft visit scheduled with the Bengals this week.
Pearce played all three years (39 games) he was at Tennessee, but his snaps and production really took off in 2023. He played 462 snaps as a main rotational pass rusher off the edge for the Volunteers and recorded 10 sacks with a pass rush win rate of 21.8% according to Pro Football Focus. He also had 14.5 tackles for loss.
Pearce's 2023 campaign was so promising that A to Z Sports' own Ryan Roberts had him go first overall in a mock draft back in September when the Bengals held the pick. He's not expected to go that high now with only two weeks remaining until the draft, but he is in play to go anywhere in the first round.
Tennessee made Pearce a starter to kick off the 2024 season and he ended up playing almost the same number of snaps (464), but his box score production didn't quite match the previous year despite his pass rush win rate rising to 23%, which ranked second in the country among EDGEs who rushed the passer as many times as him.
Cincinnati previously met with Pearce at the NFL Scouting Combine, so another private meeting indicates real interest in him. At the very least, the team wants to look into him as a person more diligently like they did with Walter Nolen earlier this week.
Rumors have emerged this offseason about Pearce's "coachability" and his alleged lack of desire to play the run has been brought up by anonymous coaches. Such concerns could even drop him out of the second round entirely.
If those issues don't bother the Bengals, they could easily select him with the 17th overall pick and potentially start a run on pass rushers like league sources believe could happen according NFL insider Tony Pauline.
A first-round pick spent on an EDGE could also have implications for Trey Hendrickson, who wants a pay raise from Cincinnati or to be traded off the team. If the Bengals find that trading Hendrickson becomes the best path moving forward, then they'll need someone with Pearce's talents to help replace him immediately.
Now is the perfect time for Cincinnati to finalize Pearce's evaluation and determine if he's worth drafting in the first round; a decision that could very well impact the rest of the draft for many other clubs.
Bengals 2025 Pre-Draft Visits: Tracking all the players Cincinnati is meeting with with leading up to the NFL Draft
A complete list of players visiting Cincinnati leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft.
