This week, Jah Joyner is one of six players representing the Minnesota Golden Gophers' program at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
The 6-foot-5, 265-pound edge rusher this week will look to raise his draft stock from a projected early day three draft pick to someone who could potentially find himself being drafted on day two in late April.
Ahead of testing at this week's combine, Joyner met with the media on Wednesday. During his time at the podium, Joyner discussed his development and time spent with the Golden Gophers.
"I'm just blessed to be here, honestly, and to showcase my skills," Joyner said. "Just truly blessed to be invited. Play against the best of the best. Play against all those tackles there and just compete. So I'm just glad to be here."
In today's game at the NFL level, strong edge rushers have become a premium, and Joyner fully understands the main priority NFL teams have for the position.
"I think the biggest thing is affecting the quarterback," he said. "The guys that create a lot of points. The guy that always has the ball. So, I think we're the biggest people to be able to affect that."
During his time with the Gophers, Joyner was one of the more disruptive defensive ends in the Big Ten.
In 42 career games, he totaled 66 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, and 14.5 sacks. He also showed confidence on Wednesday to go with the stat sheet when it comes to his ability to get after the quarterback. "My get-off is one of my biggest skills," he told the media. "I get after the passer pretty well."
Of course, at 6-foot-5, one of Joyner's greatest assets is his size. "Yeah, it creates a lot. A lot of length that I have. A lot of power that I have. One of my strengths is my long arms and my speed as well," he said. "I'm a bigger guy, but also I'm going to showcase my speed. I definitely want to run in the 4.5s and I think I should be able to."
While a majority of the press conference was surrounding his own abilities and potential fits at the next level, he was also asked about his time spent with the Golden Gophers.
"It shaped me in a lot of ways," Joyner said about his time with the Gophers. "Off the field and on the field as well. I think the biggest thing is just growing as a player and growing as a person. Coach Fleck and his staff did a great job with me and all the players there," he added. "It was just an honor that he took a chance from Connecticut," he would later say about his relationship with Fleck. "When we talk about just development from his players, that's really why I went there."
Though Joyner has come a long way from Danbury High School, he knows entering the NFL is like hitting the reset button."At Minnesota, we talked about just 0-500 and the road to glory," Joyner explained. "And I'm going to the NFL starting at zero and just learning from those guys, learning from the events. Just picking their brain, picking their process, picking their routine."
Now with the media portion of the combine now behind him, Joyner and the rest of the defensive ends at the combine will turn their attention to tomorrow afternoon as they take part in on-the-field drills from 3:00 p.m. through 8:00 p.m. The 2025 NFL Draft is scheduled to begin on Thursday, April 24.
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