The Gopher Defensive lineman should hear his name called Saturday
The NFL Draft officially kicks off Thursday with the first round from Green Bay. Rounds two and three will take place on Friday night, and Rounds four through seven will take place on Saturday. The Minnesota Golden Gophers are likely to have several players hear their name called in the final four rounds of the draft on Saturday, and one of them is defensive lineman Jah Joyner.
Measurables:
Height: 6’4
Weight: 262 lbs
Arm: 34”
Hand: 9 3/8”
40 Time: 4.60seconds
10 Yard split: 1.67 Seconds
Vertical 30”
Broad Jump: NA
3 Cone: 7.3 seconds
20 yd shuttle 4.68 seconds
Bench Press NA
Jah has a typical mid-round defensive lineman body and measurables. His RAS score comes in at 7.14.
For those unfamiliar with RAS, this evaluation formula — created by Kent Lee Platte — collects a multitude of a player’s testing metrics and physical attributes to generate a score to measure a prospect’s athleticism entering the NFL. The final number is determined by what percentile a player falls relative to their peers at a particular position.
The highest score a prospect can achieve in this tool is a 10. Prospects are graded on a scale of 1-10 for each contributing factor, which is a great reference point to help determine exactly how a player’s athleticism stacks up against incoming prospects at the same position to help aid the evaluation process.
Jah’s overall speed is great, but he lacks a lot of the quick burst that would make him a Day 1 or Day 2 prospect. He uses his long arms and legs well to gain leverage going around the edge and can use his long arms to his advantage trying to strip a quarterback on the rush. He also has well developed rush skills to get inside on tackles with a slap and rip. His long term speed and his crazy motor makes him very valuable at chasing down plays—even if he is not the first guy in position as plays continue to be extended, Joyner is always around the ball at the end.
Some if his negatives are things that can be coached up, and some that he will just need to deal with. He needs more core strength and better footwork to try and beat NFL tackles. He can be pushed off his base too easily and taken out of a play. He needs to improve his run coverage greatly—and it may limit him to just a pass rush specialist early in his career.
He may need to be a core special teams guy and work his way into more and more defensive playing time as he earns a team’s trust.
As multiple scouts have said, Joyner has a high ceiling if he can put it all together, but if not, his floor is what it is, and he will be just another body.
What Do the Mocks Say?
Jah will get drafted. It just will be a case of how early does he go off the board. Lots of mocks have him going in the 5th round, with a few more in the 6th and a few stragglers in the 7th. We have 10 mocks listed here and nine different teams. Jah could go just about anywhere.
USA Today Chicago Bears R5 P 148
Walt Walterfootball.com Miami Dolphins R 5 Pick 150
Ryan Wilson and Chris Trapasso CBS Sports Arizona Cardinals R5 P 152
Charlie Campbell Walterfootball.com Philadelphia Eagles R5 P 164
Sporting News Dallas Cowboys R5 P 174
Jordan Reid ESPN.com Las Vegas Raiders R6 P 180
Dane Brugler The Athletic New York Jets R6 P 186
NFL.com Las Vegas Raiders R7 Pick 222
SteeersDepot.com Tampa Bay Buccaneers R7 P 235
Final Prediction:
Jah will either go late in the 5th round or early in the 6th. You would think Arizona with Winston as their new DL coach would love to bring Jah in there, but I think their 5th round pick at 152 might be a little high, and they do not as of the start of the draft have a 6th round pick. If the Cardinals do some trading and pick up a 6th along the way, then I do think Jah to Arizona is a strong possibility. But…as of now our prediction is….
With the 168th selection in the NFL Draft in the 5th Round, the Philadelphia Eagles select Jah Joyner from the University of Minnesota.