Under head coach Josh Heupel, the Tennessee Volunteers have a legitimate chance of accomplishing something that has only happened twice in football history. With the 2024 NFL Draft behind us, 2025 NFL mock drafts are already popping up. Many of those 2025 NFL mock drafts place Vols edge rusher James Pearce as the first overall choice in next year’s draft. Pearce, a Charlotte native, had a career season as a sophomore for Tennessee in 2023, totaling 10 sacks, 14.5 tackles for loss, and an interception returned for a score.
Pearce isn’t the only Vol who’s getting some early NFL draft attention. Earlier this offseason, PFF’s Max Chadwick suggested that Vols redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava had the highest ceiling of any 2026 draft eligible quarterback, saying that the former five-star recruit can “stake his claim as the 2026 QB1” with a strong performance this fall.
There is a highly plausible scenario in which Pearce is the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and Iamaleava is the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. It’s clearly too early to make any firm predictions about the 2025 NFL Draft (much alone the 2026 NFL Draft), but the situation is feasible. If the Vols have players taken first overall in the NFL Draft in consecutive years, it will only be the third time in football history that a programme has done so.
USC first achieved this feat in 1968 and 1969. In 1968, the Minnesota Vikings drafted offensive lineman Ron Yary first overall. The following year, the Buffalo Bills selected running back OJ Simpson with the first choice. Oklahoma most recently achieved this accomplishment in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, the Cleveland Browns selected quarterback Baker Mayfield with the first overall pick. In 2019, the Arizona Cardinals selected quarterback Kyler Murray as the first overall choice. A lot has to go right for Pearce and Iamaleava to go first in back-to-back drafts, but it’s a possibility for Tennessee.
Be the first to comment