Dontay Joyner

Senior defensive back for Maryland. 2025: 2 interceptions, 8 pass breakups, 40 tackles.

DB · Maryland · Sr. · #6

6′0″ · 180 lb · Lakeland, FL · Lakeland

CFB Index 74 · #65 of 364 cornersLow confidenceReturning to Maryland for 2026

via umterps.com ↗

Next upSat Sep 19 · 7:30 pm ETvs Virginia TechSECU StadiumVirginia Tech by 3

How he plays

Erases the deep middle of the field.

Passes defended: 98th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

interceptions · 2025

8 PBU · 40 tackles · 1 TFL

Best game: 1 INT, 2 PBU, 3 tackles, vs Florida Atlantic

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive back for Maryland. 2025: 2 interceptions, 8 pass breakups, 40 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Arkansas State in 2023.
Transferred from Arkansas State to Maryland in 2025.

His career, year by year

Dontay Joyner

DB · Maryland · Sr · #6

Erases the deep middle of the field. Across three seasons and two programs, two head coaches: Butch Jones and Mike Locksley. The receipt on tape: 7 tackles against Rutgers, Week 11, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2023Arkansas State6-7HC: Butch Jones · Run-leaning

2024Arkansas State8-5HC: Butch Jones · Balanced

2025Maryland4-8HC: Mike Locksley · Pass-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

74Quality starter #65 of 364?

Low confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (98th percentile). Strength: solo tackles (80th percentile). Concern: qb hurries (22nd percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Passes defended#45 / 2975 · 98th pct

Solo tackles#559 / 2975 · 80th pct

Interceptions#114 / 817 · 75th pct

Tackles#906 / 2975 · 69th pct

Tackles for loss#1936 / 2975 · 28th pct

1.0

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct

0.0

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	2.7	0.0	0.0	0.6
Road5g	4.2	0.2	0.0	0.8

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.5	0.0	0.0	0.7
Weeks 8+6g	4.2	0.2	0.0	0.7

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Mike Locksley

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

74 · #65 of 364 corners

Three-star recruit. Now #65 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #14 of 77 Big Ten DBs

How the All-Big Ten estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Maryland	40	29	1.0	8	2	--
2024	Arkansas State	50	33	0.5	7	2	--
2023	Arkansas State	19	12	0.0	--	--	--
Career		109	74	1.5	15	4	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 44–17

vs Towson

1 PD

Dominant 27-point win at home against Towson.

With M. Washington — 261 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 94.8 · 29 rush yds (3 car) · 1 TD · B. McFerson — 48 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 52 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 39-7vs Florida Atlantic	3	3	0.0	1	2
Wk 2	W 20-9vs Northern Illinois	2	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 44-17vs Towson	0	0	0.0	—	1
Wk 4	W 27-10@ Wisconsin	2	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 20-24vs Washington	5	5	0.0	—	1
Wk 7	L 31-34vs Nebraska	3	3	0.0	1	0
Wk 8	L 17-20@ UCLA	4	4	1.0	—	0
Wk 10	L 10-55vs Indiana	2	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	L 20-35@ Rutgers	7	3	0.0	—	2	Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 12	L 6-24@ Illinois	3	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 20-45vs Michigan	4	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	L 28-38@ Michigan State	5	5	0.0	—	2
Total		40	29	1.0	2	8

How he plays

Play style

Single-high range who erases the deep middle of the field.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

12 games

40Tackles

29Solo

1TFL

0Sacks

8Pass def.

2INT

40 tackles. 8 passes defended. 2 interceptions. 1 TFL.

Week 12 PD · 1 INT
Week 31 PD
Week 61 PD
Week 71 INT
Week 112 PD
Week 142 PD

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

Maryland

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Maryland

Returning around him

1 Maryland player drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -2 net (14 in / 16 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Maryland · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #46 · 2026 recruiting class #43

DNA match

Player DNA

Centerfielder

Single-high range who erases the deep middle of the field.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to DJ Turner’s 2021 season.

DJ Turner

85%match

Michigan · 2021

Chase Lucas

Arizona State · 2021

NFL Rd 7

83%

Micah Robinson

Tulane · 2024

All-AACNFL Rd 7

82%

Jaylon McClain-Sapp

Marshall · 2020

82%

Kempton Shine

Virginia · 2024

80%

Matches DJ on

Weight

TFL rate

PD rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Chau Smith-Wade's junior season at Washington State (2022).

Chau Smith-Wade

85%match

Washington State · 2022

NFL Rd 5

Kamari Lassiter

Georgia · 2023

NFL Rd 2 · Pk 10

80%

Kool-Aid McKinstry

Alabama · 2023

1st-team All-AmericanNFL Rd 2 · Pk 9

77%

Deshaun Lee

Iowa · 2025

75%

KK Meier

UTSA · 2025

74%

Matches Chau on

Weight

Tackle volume

PD rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Dontay Joyner

Allen Bryant

Pittsburgh · 2025

91%

Sam Martin

Temple · 2023

83%

Tristan Teasdell

NC State · 2025

83%

Eric McClain

Ball State · 2024

82%

Dylan Smith

Oklahoma State · 2023

80%

Background

CAREER HONORS: 2025 Honorable Mention All-Big Ten As a Junior (2025): Started all 12 games during his first season as a Terp Posted a team-leading eight pass breakups. Also recorded two interceptions, returning one for a 67-yard touchdown against Nebraska. Ended the year with 40 total tackles. Re...

via umterps.com ↗

The secondary · Maryland

#2Lavain ScruggsDB · Sr.64 tackles · 2025
#6Dontay JoynerDB · Sr.40 tackles · 2025
#33Messiah DelhommeDB · So.39 tackles · 2025
#6Jordan ScruggsCB · Sr.32 tackles · 2025
#4Jamare GlaskerDB · Sr.32 tackles · 2025

14 more on the roster · Maryland team page

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Dontay Joyner

20237 games

202512 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Centerfielder

Players who play like Dontay Joyner

Background

The secondary · Maryland