DALLAS, Texas – Let’s be clear. Tennessee has two potentially elite defenders. However, those two players don’t define the Vols.

I thought I had this team pegged, that its best two defenders were easily going to be EDGE rusher James Pearce, Jr., and linebacker Arion Carter. Pretty simple, right?

Pearce has been projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft – so he’s pretty athletic. Per sources to Off The Hook Sports, Carter would have been a standout player last season had it not been for nagging injuries. Wild athleticism? Certainly. Unique amongst their teammates? Not quite.

Want proof? I asked defensive lineman Omari Thomas if the Pearce and Carter duo were far more athletic than their teammates, that they were the best athletes, by far, on Tennessee’s entire team. Whoops? I missed.

“I would say you’re crazy,” Thomas said with a hearty laugh. “It’s just some athletes that we have on our team.”

Okay, I get that. Maybe I overestimated Pearce and Carter, but I don’t think so. I think it’s more likely that I underestimated Tennessee’s overall talent level, which has grown year after year since Tennessee coach Josh Heupel was hired following the 2020 season. Now, let’s be clear. Pearce and Carter are still very, very good and, by most accounts, have a chance to be truly elite this season.

“Real special player,” Thomas said of Pearce. “He’s full of upside. Athletic, strong, smart on the field, knows how to read off each other, knows how to read offenses. 

“He’s just all around, like, good. Like he does the right stuff on the field,”

Clearly, Pearce’s reputation as a high-level playmaker is cemented no matter what he does this season. Carter still has a ways to go in the eyes of analysts and all-important NFL scouts. Carter was banged up most of last season and wasn’t the best fit for linebacker Keenan Pili when he went out with an injury in the season opener. Still, the upside is there.

“Smart,” Thomas said when asked about Carter. “He’s real mature for his age. When he came here as a freshman, you could tell. He wanted to be on the field. You could tell it meant a lot. You could tell how much he loves the game. 

“Just to see that from a young guy and I feel like not only him, but that class, that whole class came in very mature and it’s been really good. I’m excited for him.”

Thomas is referring to the 2023 signing class, which was, of course, led by five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who is set to start for the Vols this season. So is Carter.

Thomas’ reaction to Pearce and Carter being the best natural athletes on the team shouldn’t be taken as any sort of criticism of the two. Take it for what it is. The Vols are good.

“We all believe that we can be a good defense,” Thomas said. “And I feel like if we don’t believe and expect to do it from within, then who is going to believe?”

Clearly.

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