Tennessee wound up losing 14 scholarship players to the NCAA transfer portal off its 2024 football roster, but running back Dylan Sampson had been the lone junior to leave the Volunteers early for the NFL.

Then the obvious happened.

Edge rusher James Pearce, who has been projected as NFL first-round material since the end of his sophomore season, announced late Wednesday night that he would be forgoing his senior year with the Vols. The 6-foot-5, 243-pounder from Charlotte, North Carolina, revealed his intentions via a social media video roughly two hours before the NFL’s deadline for underclassmen to declare.

Two mock drafts released Wednesday project Pearce to be among the first 20 selections, with CBS predicting him 14th overall to Indianapolis and The Athletic pegging him 19th to Tampa Bay.

Pearce’s 2023 season consisted of only three starts, but he played in all 13 games and racked up 28 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and 16 quarterback pressures. He was the highest-graded defensive end in the Southeastern Conference that season at 90.9, according to Pro Football Focus, and he made the most of the Citrus Bowl stage against Iowa.

In the 35-0 thrashing of the Hawkeyes, Pearce tallied 1.5 sacks, forced a fumble and had a 52-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Pearce received far more attention this past season from opposing offenses but still compiled 38 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks and 10 quarterback hurries. He played just a handful of snaps in Tennessee’s early season routs of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Kent State and addressed his downtick in lost-yardage stops midway through the season.

“It’s my job to play in the scheme of the defense, and the coaches are going to dial up what we need to win,” Pearce said. “I feel like everybody is playing great and that we’re playing as one, and that’s what has us confident. We’re just going to keep getting after it.

“Numbers are cool, but you like to win more than the numbers. I said that before the season started.”

With only Monday night’s championship game between Notre Dame and Ohio State remaining in the 2024 season, Tennessee ranks sixth nationally in total defense (having allowed an average of 293.2 yards a game) and seventh in scoring defense (16.1 points allowed per contest).

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.