Film room: Joyner’s pass-rush skills could earn roster spot

Diving into one of the Raiders’ most notable UDFAs

The Las Vegas Raiders have drawn some praise recently for signing defensive end Jah Joyner as an undrafted free agent. Many, myself included, thought the former Minnesota Golden Gopher would get selected in the late rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft, largely due to his impressive 2023 campaign.

Two years ago, Joyner logged 7.5 sacks and ranked second among Big 10 edge rushers with 46 total pressures, per Pro Football Focus. The latter was especially impressive considering he out-produced Nic Scourton (second round), JT Tuimoloau (second round) and Jack Sawyer (fourth round), all of whom were selected in last month’s draft.

Despite rushing the passer 31 more times this past season, Joyner’s production dipped to just 4.5 sacks and 31 pressures, to help explain why he slipped through the cracks. However, he still showed a handful of quality pass rush moves and the ability to tie moves together, giving the undrafted free agent a chance to make the Raiders’ roster this summer.

We’ll start with a solid hand-swipe move to win around the edge. He does benefit from some bad tackle play to create a short edge, but Joyner sets the move up well by stemming inside with his first step to get the tackle to stop his feet. Then, Joyner knocks the tackle’s outside hand down to “beat the hands, beat the man” and get the quarterback hit.

To be slightly critical of the Minnesota product, he has below-average bend and that’s the difference between this rep being a QB hit and a sack. Notice how when he beats the tackle around the edge, he takes a rounded angle instead of a straight line (or as close to it as possible) to the quarterback.

That leads to a less efficient path and gives more time to throw the ball. It might only be a half-second, but it can be the difference between the pass reaching the target and a negative play for the offense.

This time, we’ll get a couple of examples of inside spin moves that Joyner likes to use as a counter.

In the first one, he tries to win with the hand-swipe seen above, but isn’t able to clear the offensive tackle’s hands. So, he counters by feeling the tackle leaning on him and spinning inside to get the win.

Joyner tries a rip move to beat the offensive lineman outside in the second rep. However, that doesn’t work either, so he goes back to the inside spin move and does a great job of using his right arm/elbow as an “icepick” to escape and put the lineman on the ground. Granted, nothing comes of this rep since the quarterback got the ball out quickly.

What stands out about both of these inside spin moves is that the former Gopher rushes with a plan, trying one move and working another if the initial doesn’t work. Also, he has a feel for when he’s reached the top of the rush or point of no return to work back toward the quarterback instead of continuing to rush up the field.

Those things might seem simple, but they can be difficult for some players to string together and shows some savviness as a pass-rusher.

Joyner has also shown the ability to turn speed to power as a pass-rusher, and the clip above is a good example. He sells the vertical rush by working up the field with his first two steps before pivoting inside. Then, he has good hand placement on the right tackle’s chest and good leverage by getting his helmet underneath the tackle’s.

That allows the former Golden Gopher to get extension, uncoil his hips and prevent the tackle from dropping the anchor, collapsing the pocket on the quarterback. Finally, Joyner caps the rep off by getting his hand up and batting the pass at the line of scrimmage. For reference, PFF credited him with three batted passes last season.

Building off the previous section, Joyner uses his ability to win with power to set up a move around the edge here. He engages the left tackle with the bull rush, which gets the tackle to open his hips and lean too far forward. That creates a shorter edge on the outside, setting up the pass-rusher’s rip move.

So, Joyner successfully got the tackle to take the bait with the power move and won around the edge with a bull-to-rip combo move, preventing the quarterback from getting a clean pass off.

This next clip is almost identical to the last one, where the undrafted free agent initially rushes with power to set up an outside move and win around the edge. The biggest difference is he starts with a one-arm stab, then goes to swipe the left tackle’s outside hand (a.k.a. a ‘stab and swipe’ move) and finishes off the rep with a rip move.

Obviously, the ball is out of the quarterback’s hand quickly, so nothing comes of this rep. But it is another example of how Joyner ties his pass-rush moves together, which will pay off later on longer-developing play calls.

Finally, this last rep might be the best example of Joyner using his tendencies against offensive tackles. Initially, he throws the one-arm stab move seen in the previous clip. But pay close attention to when he starts to engage with the right tackle.

Joyner actually takes his arm away, which gets the offensive tackle off-balance because the tackle is anticipating the stab move. Then, the edge-rusher quickly transitions to a rip move and wins around the edge, forcing the quarterback to move in the pocket and check the ball down.

Overall, the Minnesota product’s run defense needs a lot of work for him to become a complete player and boost his case to make the roster. He plays too high and often exposes his chest against the run, making it difficult to hold his gap. Also, Joyner is more of an above-average athlete than a good one, earning a 6.87 RAS with his NFL Combine numbers.

But the undrafted rookie does have some veteran savviness to him as a pass-rusher that could help his cause this summer. Don’t be surprised if he stands out during the preseason, especially going against younger offensive tackles.

Defenses can never have too many pass-rushers, and the Raiders could use someone to turn to off the bench or in case of an emergency, giving Joyner a chance to earn a spot on the 53-man roster with a strong showing in training camp.