Early returns from Falcons’ investment in James Pearce Jr. are encouraging

When the Falcons traded a 2026 first-round pick to jump back into the first round and draft James Pearce Jr., the entire NFL world criticized Terry Fontenot and Atlanta’s braintrust. It was a massive gamble on a player littered with red flags in the pre-draft process.

Despite totaling 17.5 sacks over his final two seasons at Tennessee, Pearce tumbled down draft boards, even being taken off some of them entirely because of character concerns.

Pearce was arrested and was charged with speeding, driving on a suspended license, failure to present insurance, registration not properly displayed, and improper window tinting. However, the concerns went further than just a traffic arrest. Anonymous sources questioned Pearce’s maturity and willingness to be coached at the next level.

“That kid is a first-round talent,” a defensive line coach told The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, “but the stuff you hear (about his maturity) scares me. We don’t even talk about him,” he said. “How coachable is he?”

Fast forward to Falcons training camp, and the early returns on their gamble are encouraging. Raheem Morris and the rest of Atlanta’s staff spent extra time researching Pearce’s background and were comfortable with the investment.

“All the really great football players that I have been around, they have edge,” coach Raheem Morris said, via Josh Kendall. “Part of us becoming what we want to be is acquiring players with some natural edge. There’s going to be some violence and physicality that’s going to be required to be a part of this football team.”

Pearce was in the middle of two fights last weekend, adding some much-needed fire to a Falcons team that has become soft. It’s been a while since that side of the ball struck fear into opposing offenses, and it shouldn’t matter if it’s a rookie or 10-year veteran that provides the energy.

“Defenses are supposed to be known as ferocious, violent, all the strong words that you can use, so when you can add a little bit of edge the right way, obviously we are always looking for guys like that,” outside linebackers coach Jacquies Smith said. “He’s been proving it.”

The Falcons might have been criticized for their gamble on James Pearce Jr., but Morris, his position coach, and the defensive coordinator are positive that the rookie pass rusher is doing everything the right way.

“He’s as prideful as it gets,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “He wants to come out here and make a strong impression on everybody, himself included, that he can do this and do this at a high level. When every ounce of your body is trying to prove who you are, it can get a little wacky sometimes. His anger got the best of him at times, and it’s going to be a great learning experience for him.”

If that isn’t enough to get the folks excited, the leader of the defense — Jessie Bates III — also acknowledged that Pearce isn’t like most rookies.