Darius Joiner

Darius Joiner gets ready to make a tackle against Northwestern

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Cam Dillon celebrates with Darius Joiner after sacking UVA quarterback Brennan Armstrong

Position:
Defensive Back
Height:
6-2
Weight:
200
Class:
Graduate Student
Hometown:
Roanoke, Ala.
High School:
Handley (Western Illinois)

CAREER: 2022 Third Team All-ACC selection … 2022 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America® Second Team pick and Academic All-ACC selection … 2022 university scholar-athlete by the NFF Dooley Chapter ... FCS All-America honoree in 2021 (Associated Press, 1st; Athlon Sports, 1st; Stats Perform, 1st; HERO Sports, 2nd; and Phil Steele, 3rd) … finished sixth in voting for the 2021 Stats Perform FCS Buck Buchanan Award, which honors the defensive player of the year in college football’s FCS subdivision … tabbed a 2021 First Team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference honoree and was selected to the MVFC All-Newcomer Team … played in 53 career games (28 starts) at Duke, Western Illinois and Jacksonville State … compiled 320 tackles, 19.0 TFL, 5.5 sacks, four INTs, 14 PBU, three caused fumbles, one fumble recovery and five QB pressures … led the FCS in total tackles and solo tackles (79) in 2021 ... recorded a career-high 23 tackles against Youngstown State in 2021, which ranked sixth-best in Fighting Leathernecks’ history for a single game … tabbed the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) and FCS Stats Perform National Defensive Player of the Week following that performance … registered double-figure tackles in 13 career games, including 11 outings with 12+ tackles … posted 2.0+ TFLs on three occasions with a career-best 3.0 TFL performance coming against Southern Illinois in 2021 … registered one INT against Eastern Illinois (2018), Montana (2021), Virginia (2022) and Wake Forest (2022) … played 989 career snaps for Duke.

2022: Third Team All-ACC honoree and team defensive skill player of the year award recipient … CSC Academic All-America® Second Team, Academic All-ACC and NFF Hampshire Honors Society selection … named a university scholar-athlete by the NFF Bill Dooley Chapter ... started all 13 games during lone season in Durham and finished ranking first on the team in tackles (97), tied for first in INTs (two), second in TFLs (8.0), fourth in sacks (4.0) and QB pressures (five) …. in addition, added five PBUs, two caused fumbles and one forced fumble ... was 11th in the ACC with 7.46 tackles per game … posted three games with double-digit tackles, including a season-high 14 at Northwestern … accumulated 1.0 TFL on six occasions with a season-high 2.0 coming against Boston College … earned INTs against Virginia and Wake Forest … recorded a season-best two PBUs at Pittsburgh … registered a caused fumble and fumble recovery in the Military Bowl against UCF … added other caused fumble against Miami … selected the ACC Co-Defensive Back of the Week on Nov. 28, 2022, after logging six tackles, one interception and one quarterback pressure in the Blue Devils’ victory over Wake Forest … at the conclusion of the season, held a Pro Football Focus grade of 88.7, which ranked fourth nationally among safeties … on the field for 989 snaps … enrolled at Duke in Summer, 2022, following transfer from Western Illinois.

PRIOR TO DUKE: One-year member of the football program at Western Illinois (2021) and four-year member at Jacksonville State (2017-18-19-20) ... started all 11 games at Western Illinois, recording 142 tackles, 7.0 TFL, 1.5 sacks, one INT, five PBUs, three QB pressures and one forced fumble … was an FCS All-America honoree in 2021 (Associated Press, 1st; Athlon Sports, 1st; Stats Perform, 1st; HERO Sports, 2nd; and Phil Steele, 3rd) … finished sixth in voting for the 2021 Stats Perform FCS Buck Buchanan Award, which honors the defensive player of the year in college football’s FCS subdivision … tabbed a 2021 First Team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference honoree and was selected to the MVFC All-Newcomer Team … led the FCS in total tackles and solo tackles (79) ... recorded a career-high 23 tackles against Youngstown State, which ranked sixth-best in Fighting Leathernecks’ history for a single game … tabbed the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) and FCS Stats Perform National Defensive Player of the Week following that performance … registered double-figure tackles in nine career games, including seven outings with 12+ tackles … at JSU, saw action in 27 career games (four starts), compiling 80 tackles, 4.0 TFL, one INT, three PBU and one QB pressure … attended Handley and was coached by Larry Strain ... helped lead the Tigers to a Class 4A AHSAA state championship and Region 3 championship … named first team all-state and first team all-region following senior campaign … guided Handley to a 13-2 overall finish as a senior with a 6-1 mark in the region … also lettered in basketball.

PERSONAL: Born September 29, 1998 ... graduated from Jacksonville State in May 2021, with a degree in biology and a minor in chemistry ... graduated from Duke in May 2023, with a master’s degree in management studies from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business ... son of Robert and Regina Joiner.