He was the highest-rated Florida State recruit of the season, along with Christian Jones. Joining Derrick Brooks (1990), David Warren (1996), and Antonio Cromartie (2002), Joyner became the fourth ever USA Today National Defensive Player of the Year to sign with Florida State. He capped off his prep career by playing in the Under Armour All-America Game. College career As a true freshman, Joyner attended Florida State University, where he played in all 14 games and finished with 23 tackles, two pass break-ups, and one interception, mostly on special teams but also as a back-up safety. In the 47–17 loss to Oklahoma, he had five returns for 74 yards. In the ACC Championship Game against Virginia Tech, Joyner had four returns for 112 yards. During spring practice of his sophomore year, Joyner was moved into the starting line-up at safety, a position at which he started all 13 games of the season. He recorded 54 tackles adding two tackles for loss, one sack, and three pass break-ups on the year, which earned him All-ACC second-team honors. In the Champs Sports Bowl, Joyner helped the Seminoles to an 18–14 win over Notre Dame tallying seven tackles and snagging his team-high fourth interception. In his junior year, Joyner again started all 14 games at safety. In his final season at FSU, Joyner had 69 tackles with seven tackles for a loss, two interceptions, four passes broken up, three forced fumbles, and 5.5 sacks. He was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award as a senior. Professional career St. Louis / Los Angeles Rams 2014 The St. Louis Rams selected Joyner in the second round (41st overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft. Joyner was the fifth safety selected in 2014. The Rams traded their second round (44th overall) and fifth round (153rd overall) to the Buffalo Bills in order to move up and draft Joyner. The Buffalo Bills used their acquired picks to draft Alabama's Cyrus Kouandjio and Baylor's Cyril Richardson. On June 16, 2014, the St. Louis Rams signed Joyner to a four-year, $5.03 million contract that includes $3.07 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.97 million. Head coach Jeff Fisher named Joyner the starting nickelback and the third free safety on the Rams' depth chart to begin the regular season. He made his professional regular season debut in the St. Louis Rams' season-opener against the Minnesota Vikings and recorded three