When six-year-old James Pearce Jr. was in a classroom, he learned how to read and do math. When he left the classroom, he learned how to play football.
Football and basic life fundamentals go hand-in-hand for Pearce, a standout pass rusher selected No. 26 overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2025 NFL draft.
Perhaps the extensive time-on-task is why the 21-year-old Pearce is routinely described as "natural" -- or maybe it's his 6' 5", 243-pound frame, which he pairs with a 4.47 40-yard dash and near-33-inch arms.
But Pearce, no matter the means, fits the bill in a way few recent Falcons have.
"The traits are real," Falcons outside linebackers coach Jacquies Smith told Atlanta Falcons on SI. "He is fast, he is big, he's long, he has long arms, and things of that nature -- things you look for from a natural rusher."
Pearce has a wiry frame and, at the University of Tennessee, earned a reputation for being a speed-based rusher. He justified the billing at the NFL combine, where his 40-yard dash was in the 97th percentile among all combine edge defenders since 1999, according to MockDraftable, while his 1.56 10-yard split placed him in the 93rd percentile.
There's less buzz about Pearce's strength. Smith, who had 13.5 sacks with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2014-15 and played in the NFL through 2018, said he doesn't know many pass rushers who don't need to know how to play with power.
Pearce has it. When Smith saw it on film, he didn't feel surprised, but excitement -- in the culmination of a well-rounded, translatable skill set.
"When you're evaluating the player, and you're able to see all those different traits -- the thing about traits, man, (is) you want to see it shown on film. And that's the thing he did," Smith said. "It's not just him running fast at the combine -- you were able to see those traits pop out on film a lot, which gets you excited about the player."
Pearce's traits not only popped to Smith, who's now his position coach, but also to Atlanta's offensive coaching staff. Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said the team's offensive coordinator, Zac Robinson, watched Atlanta's first-round pass rushers in Pearce and Georgia's Jalon Walker.
Robinson knows who he doesn't want to play and game plan against, Morris said. The same goes for offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford, who indirectly watched Pearce in college and now watches his tackles face the Charlotte, N.C. native each practice.
Ledford, who often wears apparel marked by his slogan, "Speed Off the Ball," joked he may need to give Pearce a hat. But Ledford was straight-faced when he said he anticipates Pearce causing "a lot" of fits for opposing offensive linemen this fall.
"When we're watching a lot of these offensive linemen, you can't happen but notice some of these defenders in college, and James is absolutely one that stood out a lot when you're watching these games," Ledford said. "I think when you can play with speed like that, and you've got speed to power, you've got the power behind it.
"You've got those two different dimensions as a rusher, it creates a lot of issues for an offensive line."
Aiding Pearce's chance to make an early impact is the clarity of his role.
The Falcons have a diverse plan for Walker, who can play inside and outside linebacker and rush the passer from a variety of spots. Atlanta intends to use Walker as an edge rusher on first and second downs before using him creatively on third down.
When Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich described his vision for Walker, he used 69 words. It took him just 17 words with Pearce, who's going to do as he's long done: Take his spot on the edge and attack opposing quarterbacks.
"It's obviously excellent he's been at the position, so he has a foundation and a home there," Smith said. "I think right now, the thing about him, you don't really have to manufacture a lot for him. He kind of knows the position. It's just growing him to the pro game and getting him ready for the pro level."
Ulbrich said there's a lot of players whose coaches have to fabricate opportunities for them. There are other players who make things happen on their own -- and that, Ulbrich said, is Pearce.
"He doesn't need a whole lot of speed to get him going," Ulbrich said. "We can put him on the edge and let him rip it, and he's going to be a problem. I'm super excited (for) what he'll become."
Pearce, a two-time first-team All-SEC selection, has a pedigree rooted in high-level productivity. In 2023, he led the Volunteers with 14 tackles for loss and was eighth in the FBS with 10 sacks across 13 games. Pearce again led Tennessee in tackles for loss with 13 in 2024 while adding 7.5 sacks.
The Falcons expect Pearce to make an early impact, though rookie pass rushers usually struggle to get off the ground.
Since 2020 -- five full draft cycles -- there have been 25 edge defenders drafted in the first round. Only eight of them, or 32%, had more than 4.5 sacks as rookies, and three of them -- Chase Young in 2020, Aidan Hutchinson in 2022, and Will Anderson in 2023 -- were taken inside the top three overall picks.
Ulbrich believes his system will help ease the growing pains, but he doesn't necessarily want statistics alone to measure the validity of that claim. Ulbrich said he uses statistical markers to shine a light on subjects as the season progresses, but chasing stats can sometimes cost games.
For instance, Ulbrich said, defenses can take pride in holding offenses to limited rushing yards, but due to the resources devoted to meeting that quota, the offense wins the game through the air.
So, while Ulbrich is cognizant of statistics -- particularly team-related numbers like takeaways and explosive plays allowed -- he's more focused on winning.
And he believes Pearce, with or without gaudy rookie stats, can help accomplish that goal this fall.
"A guy that's going to create some serious problems for offenses," Ulbrich said. "Because he's one of the guys that, as we approached the draft, collectively we were very high on as far as his ability to rush off the edge. Now, a lot of work to do, and fortunately, we have a really good group that he's joining.
"So, there's going to be a lot of really cool competition within that group. But expect a lot from him. We do."
The most exciting part about being a professional, Pearce said, is competing for a Super Bowl championship. He said he won a lot as a kid, be it league, state, or national championships, but none, of course, compare to the Super Bowl.
Pearce has a similarly extensive track record in pressuring opposing quarterbacks. He wants to win, and he wants to produce. He's confident he can -- and his natural rush skills validate his public bravado.
"Just be effective," Pearce said of his rookie season expectations. "I ain't putting numbers on it and stuff like that. But everybody knows the sky is the limit. So, just got to work, and whatever I get out of it, that's the work I put into it."
The work Pearce has done since he was six years old culminated in the opportunity he dreamed about. His tools give the Falcons reason to keep dreaming -- while expecting an immediate impact.
