The opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of the team.
Another draft is on the horizon, which means the Washington Commanders have another chance to improve their roster and get closer to competing for a championship.
The Commanders put themselves among the best teams in the league last season, going from 4-13 in 2023 to earning an appearance in the NFC Championship in head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Adam Peters' first year leading the franchise. Although their season ended against the Philadelphia Eagles, they now have a clear foundation for the future with former No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels in the backfield.
Now, the Commanders are picking on the opposite end of the first round with the No. 29 overall selection. They got the most important piece last year with Daniels, but there are still several positions they need to address before the 2025 season begins.
In anticipation of that selection, Commanders.com will highlight one mock draft from a draft expert each week to delve into how that player, or players, would fit with Washington. **This week, Sports Illustrated's Daniel Flick has the Commanders adding a fast, disruptive SEC pass-rusher to their defense.**
James Pearce Jr., EDGE, Tennessee
No one can accuse Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr. of not having enough self-confidence.
There are a bevy of talented edge prospects in this year's draft class -- so many that several draft analysts are claiming that it could be the deepest group in years -- but Pearce believes he stands out among the rest, saying at his pro day that he's determined to show that he's "the best edge…defender in this draft."
Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter is considered the top defensive and overall player in the draft, but there's no denying that Pearce has enough athletic traits to make an argument that he's among the most physically gifted players coming out of college. Although he's no longer considered a top 10 pick, like he was at the start of the 2024 season, most analysts predict his explosiveness and speed will be an asset for a team in his rookie year as he rounds out the rest of his game.
Flick has the Commanders, who are looking for someone to impact opposing quarterbacks, as the team vying for his services.
"The 6-foot-5, 243-pounder is still…an explosive, productive pass rusher with a pair of first-team All-SEC honors under his belt," Flick wrote. "Pearce is a pure speed rusher with tremendous burst, and he totaled 17.5 sacks over the past two seasons."
It's true that Pearce wasn't quite as successful in 2024 as he was in the previous season, when he tied for the SEC lead with 9.5 sacks to go with two forced fumbles and a 52-yard defensive touchdown. What he did was still enough to get First Team All-SEC honors from coaches for recording 7.5 sacks, including at least a half-sack in six consecutive games.
But Pearce might have done enough in the combine to convince teams to move him back up their draft boards a bit. He led all defensive ends with a 4.47 40 time with a 31-inch broad jump and a 10-foot-3 broad jump. He looked fast, smooth and decisive during positional drills, earning some praise from Rich Eisen and Daniel Jeremiah on the NFL's Network's broadcast. USA Today's Cydney Henderson labeled Pearce as a "winner" during the workouts.
"The Tennessee edge rusher resorted to wearing a hoodie during his 40-yard dash after leaving his T-shirt in his hotel room, but that didn't slow him down," **Henderson wrote.**
College offensive linemen had a tough time slowing Pearce down, too. He generated 55 pressures in 2024, which ranked second-most in the SEC and eighth-most in the FBS at his position. Though he needs to develop a larger arsenal of pass-rush moves, his speed was enough to give himself leverage against tackles' inside shoulders, collapse pockets and bring quarterbacks to the ground. It also helped him get 10 pressures and a 28.1% pass-rush win rate in Tennessee's win over Alabama.
**Connor Rogers from Yahoo Sports** agrees with Flick that Pearce could fit in well with the Commanders, as he also has the defensive end mocked to be taken at No. 29.
"I think Dan Quinn's defensive staff is perfect to get the best version out of him and they still need edge pass rush help," Rogers wrote.
Pearce's main criticism throughout the draft process has been his lack of NFL size in certain parts of his frame. **NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein describes Pearce** as "long but narrow through his hips" and suggests that he'll need to add more mass and play strength to maximize his talents and develop against the run -- something the Commanders are also looking to fortify this offseason.
Still, Pearce has shown that his athleticism can be enough to work around those limitations. He received a Relative Athletic Score (RAS) of 9.35 out of 10 for his combine performance, ranking him 118 out of 1,802 defensive ends who received an RAS over the last 38 years.
That doesn't guarantee that Pearce is going to be the best pass-rusher in the draft as he seeks to be seen as over the next month. However, it does show that he has the tools to do so, and if the right team figures out how to use them, he could end up transforming their pass rush.
"Despite those concerns," Zierlein wrote, "Pearce's length, twitch and rush production create a higher ceiling."
