Toolsy Minnesota pass rusher quickly moving up 2025 NFL Draft boards, marking an unlikely journey to prominence
The Big Ten is loaded with defensive line talent heading into the 2024 season, as it typically is. People will know the Ohio State trio of JT Tuimoloau, Jack Sawyer, and Tyleik Williams. They will also probably know the Michigan defensive tackle tandem of Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant. There are other names like Abdul […]
The Big Ten is loaded with defensive line talent heading into the 2024 season, as it typically is. People will know the Ohio State trio of JT Tuimoloau, Jack Sawyer, and Tyleik Williams. They will also probably know the Michigan defensive tackle tandem of Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant. There are other names like Abdul Carter (Penn State), Bear Alexander (USC), and Dani Dennis-Sutton (Penn State) who are definitely worth keeping close eyes on.
Perhaps the most underrated, and intriguing defender in the conference that nobody is talking about is Minnesota EDGE Jah Joyner. The 6’ 4 ¼”, 258-pound pass rusher quietly led the Golden Gophers with 7.5 sacks last season, a part of a Minnesota defense which is always amongst the conference’s best.
Firmly on NFL radars, Joyner is a player that NFL Draft fans need to get acquainted with moving forward. Joyner was nice enough to join the First Team NFL Draft and College Football Podcast to talk about his fascinating backstory and ascension as a football player. As it turns out, the Connecticut native wasn’t even supposed to be a Golden Gopher originally. His career was built off of circumstance.
“My high school coach brought me to see different programs throughout my junior and senior year,” Joyner explained. “I wanted to be close to home but it was exciting to see other places when the Boston College coaching staff did end up getting fired, so I reopened my recruitment.
“The first school that reached out was Minnesota,” he continued. “It was great to come up to Minnesota and just see a place away from Connecticut. It was a place that just stuck with me. I got really close with Coach (PJ) Fleck. I fell in love with it.”
With that change from Steve Addazio to Jeff Hafley, it allowed Minnesota to get into the picture. That was also amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented its own challenges on top of finding the best home away from home.
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Funny enough, that global pandemic was exactly what Joyner. Underdeveloped and raw coming out of Danbury High School, the talented defensive end needed time to develop from a physical and technical perspective. He had several influences that were essential for his career early on, making for great early mentors.
“I needed to be very developed and Coach Fleck was very adamant about developing the mental program,” said Joyner. “I knew I needed to be developed. The first year, I was just talking to Big O (Esezi Otomewo), talking with Boye (Mafe), they told me I had time but at the same time, I didn’t have time.
“It was about getting my body right those first two years here, learning the playbook, learning the techniques that we had here, talking to the defensive line coaches and I thought I did a really good job of that,” added Joyner. “I was just taking a lot of notes for my upcoming years and it was a blessing to sit behind someone who was really good. With how detail oriented Big O was, I was able to learn a lot from him. It was really helpful for me.”
During the first three years for Joyner, he recorded just 16 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Despite that lack of production, there was clearly an ability that had yet to be tapped into. It was a coaching change that really began to unlock that for Joyner.
“Coach DeBo (Winston DeLattiboude) had a whole rush plan when he got here,” explained Joyner. “He had a whole plan for us in terms of setting your line, understanding if the tackle is setting vertically or horizontally, and seeing their shoulders. Knowing when to use a move, knowing the offensive tackles specifically, whether they are a heavy or light setter.
“Those are things I didn’t know in my first three years here,” continued Joyner. “We actually sat back and broke everything down, which was really good for me. This offseason, I’ve been working on my hands to be a more fluent pass rusher. I already have the tools, so it’s about being more fluent and I’m definitely excited.”
You started to see that attention to detail and improvements as a player began to play off in 2023. Joyner began to become more comfortable and the production followed. Now heading to his final year, with a lot on the line, Joyner is a favorite to be one of the big risers in the 2025 NFL Draft, especially with offseason training with renowned pass rush coach Brandon Jordan.
