Virginia Tech Class of 2018 Prospect Profile: Dakereon Joyner

All of last week, we took a look at some of Virginia Tech’s top targets for the Class of 2018. On Friday, we interviewed Southwest Virginian and 4-star recruit James Mitchell. Today, we’ll examine the top remaining target on the board at quarterback for Virginia Tech — Dakereon Joyner.

Joyner is a 4-star recruit from North Charleston, SC. He’s 6-foot-2, 200-pounds and is ranked as the seventh-best dual-threat quarterback in the Class of 2018, according to the 247Sports Composite. He’s the fourth-best recruit in all of South Carolina and a top-200 player nationally.

He’s accrued quite the offer list, including schools like Auburn, Clemson, Florida State and Oklahoma. That said, Joyner has narrowed his final list to South Carolina, Georgia, Louisville, NC State and Virginia Tech. Joyner currently has 13 scholarship offers to this point.

Joyner shows good but not great arm strength and is quite accurate on throws downfield. He’s generally able to place enough touch on the ball to get it over defenders, instead of just throwing the ball downfield. Judging from his highlight tape, the offense he was in didn’t have many different routes, so he’ll need to become more accustomed to that part of the game.

He’s a high-level runner with the ball in his hands and shows great mobility in the pocket. Joyner is able sense pressure and escape the pocket and does a good job of keeping his eyes downfield for receivers who break open. At just 200-pounds, Joyner isn’t someone you want carrying the ball a lot, but he’s capable of doing so in certain situations.

The one thing Joyner will need to refine when he gets to college is his passing mechanics. His arm tends to dip sometimes and his feet aren’t always set properly. These are certainly fixable however, and Joyner has just about all of the physical tools you want in a quarterback.

Virginia Tech will likely take one more quarterback for the Class of 2018. The Hokies have already brought DeJuan Ellis into the fold, although his best position could be as a receiver. Either way, the Hokies currently have three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster (Josh Jackson, AJ Bush, Hendon Hooker) and will want to have other options there besides walk-ons Jack Click and Ryan Willis.

Joyner seems to be atop the Hokies’ board when it comes to remaining signal callers. Virginia Tech is also recruiting Casey Thompson and Quincy Patterson. Thompson is a 4-star recruit from Oklahoma and Patterson is a 3-star recruit from Chicago, IL.

Joyner visited Virginia Tech for their Junior Day on January and holds Virginia Tech in high regard. Joyner plans to commit relatively soon on this coming Father’s Day, June 18, in dedication to his late father.