Nobody expected Jah Joyner to be sitting there after seven rounds. Honestly, it was one of those draft-day mysteries that makes you wonder if every scout in the league had the same bad wifi. The Minnesota product had the tape. He had the frame. He had the "Gopher Captain" leadership tag that usually gets guys drafted in the middle rounds just for the locker room vibes. Yet, when the 2025 NFL Draft wrapped up, the Raiders UDFA pass rusher was looking for a home, and Las Vegas was more than happy to provide the couch.
It wasn't just a flyer, either.
The Raiders gave Joyner a $150,000 guarantee, which in the world of undrafted free agency, is basically the team saying, "We actually think you’re good, please don't sign with the Chiefs." In a 2025 season that ended up being a 3-14 disaster under Pete Carroll—his one-and-done year in Vegas—Joyner became a weirdly fascinating subplot. While the headlines were dominated by Ashton Jeanty breaking rookie records and Maxx Crosby playing through a shredded knee, Joyner was the guy quietly trying to prove that 32 NFL teams were collectively blind.
Why Jah Joyner Slipped (and Why the Raiders Didn't Care)
Most people look at a guy who goes undrafted and assumes there’s a massive red flag. A failed drug test. A bad attitude. Maybe he’s secretly 35 years old? For Joyner, it was simpler and kind of annoying: the combine.
He didn't test like a freak. His agility drills were, to put it bluntly, slow. NFL scouts are obsessed with the "three-cone drill" because they think it predicts how a guy will bend around a 300-pound tackle, and Joyner’s times suggested he had the turning radius of a school bus. But Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports was screaming from the rooftops that the tape didn't match the stopwatch.
On the field, Joyner was a problem. At 6-foot-4 and 262 pounds, he had a wingspan that could practically touch both sidelines at once. During his final three seasons in Minneapolis, he wasn't just a pass rusher; he was a "run-halting stud" who played the edge with a level of discipline you rarely see in college kids. He wasn't a speed burner, but he had this "lumbering" power that just wore people down.
When he arrived in Vegas, he wasn't expected to start. He had Maxx Crosby, Malcolm Koonce, and Tyree Wilson ahead of him. That’s a lot of talent to climb over. But life in the NFL moves fast, and for the Raiders, it moved toward a cliff.
The Chaos of the 2025 Raiders Season
Let's be real: the 2025 Raiders were a mess. Pete Carroll came in with all that "Win the Day" energy, but the offense was a black hole. Geno Smith struggled, the offensive line couldn't block a door, and the team basically lived on the shoulders of Ashton Jeanty. By the time December rolled around, the season was over.
👉 See also: Free Cheat Sheets for Fantasy Football: What Most Experts Won't Tell You
Then, the unthinkable happened.
Maxx Crosby, the guy who usually refuses to leave the field even if his arm is falling off, finally had to be shut down. He’d been playing on a bum knee all year, still racking up 10 sacks and 28 tackles for loss, but the team finally put him on IR after Week 16. This is where the Raiders UDFA pass rusher narrative gets interesting.
With Crosby out and the team playing for nothing but draft position, the door opened for guys like Joyner and fellow UDFA Jahfari Harvey. They weren't just camp bodies anymore; they were the only ones left to chase the quarterback. It was a "sink or swim" moment in the middle of a sinking ship.
The Development of a "Rookie to Watch"
Joyner’s path wasn't a straight line to the Pro Bowl. It was more about the "process," which is a word coaches use when a guy is talented but still learning how to not jump offsides.
- Training Camp: He showed up with a pressure rate of 14.7% from his college days, and that translated early. He wasn't beating starters, but he was making the backup tackles look like they were standing in sand.
- The Preseason: This is where he earned his roster spot. He played with a "high motor"—which is scout-speak for "he doesn't stop running until the whistle"—and proved he could contribute on special teams.
- The Regular Season: For the first 14 weeks, he was a ghost. He was inactive or played a handful of snaps. But he was watching. He was learning from Crosby, who is basically the gold standard for how to be a professional pest to offensive linemen.
What Most People Get Wrong About Joyner’s Game
If you just look at his college stats—14.5 sacks in 43 games—you’d think he’s a backup at best. But stats in college are deceiving. Minnesota’s scheme didn't always ask him to just "go get the QB." He was asked to set the edge, take on double teams, and play the "dirty" roles that don't show up in the box score.
💡 You might also like: Trent Alexander-Arnold Real Madrid: Why the Dream Move is Turning Into a Massive Headache
The Raiders saw a guy with an 82nd-percentile wingspan. They saw a guy who could actually hold his own against the run, which is something a lot of "flashy" rookie pass rushers can't do. Most rookies come into the league and get washed out of the play by a pulling guard. Joyner actually likes the contact. He’s sort of a throwback player in that sense.
Honestly, the "unathletic" narrative from the combine was his biggest hurdle. But football isn't played in shorts and a T-shirt. Once he put the pads on, that "lumbering" stride looked more like "calculated power."
The Future: Post-Pete Carroll and Beyond
With Pete Carroll out and General Manager John Spytek looking toward the 2026 season, the Raiders are in a total rebuild. They have 10 draft picks coming up, but they also have a few "found money" players from the 2025 class.
Joyner is one of them. He’s not Maxx Crosby 2.0. Nobody is. But he’s shown enough to be a rotational piece in a league that is desperate for pass-rush depth. If Malcolm Koonce stays healthy and Tyree Wilson finally takes that "Year 3" jump everyone is praying for, Joyner doesn't have to be a superstar. He just has to be the guy who comes in for 20 snaps a game and makes the opposing quarterback's life miserable.
👉 See also: Lamine Yamal Number 10: Why the New King of Catalonia Finally Claimed the Throne
Actionable Next Steps for Raiders Fans Following Joyner
If you're tracking the development of this Raiders UDFA pass rusher heading into the 2026 offseason, here is what you need to look for:
- Monitor the Weight Room: Joyner’s "bad" testing was largely due to his lower-body explosiveness. If reports come out of Henderson that he’s dropped five pounds of fat and added it in muscle to his legs, that’s a huge win for his "get-off" speed.
- Watch the Defensive Coordinator Hire: The Raiders are looking for a new identity. If they hire a coach who runs a heavy 4-3 scheme that prizes "length" at the defensive end position, Joyner’s stock goes up. If they go to a 3-4 where he has to drop into coverage? He’s in trouble.
- The Preseason Tape: Don't just look at the sacks in the 2026 preseason. Look at his "Run Stop Win Rate." If he's still holding the edge against starters, he’s a lock for the 53-man roster.
The story of the Raiders UDFA pass rusher is a classic NFL tale. A guy gets overlooked because of a few bad seconds on a stopwatch, finds a team that values his actual football tape, and survives a chaotic rookie year to earn a seat at the table. He isn't the savior of the franchise, but in a year where almost everything went wrong for Las Vegas, Jah Joyner was a reminder that sometimes the best players are the ones you didn't have to pay a draft pick for.