Joshua Josephs Determined For Big Senior Season

Tennessee Volunteers defensive lineman Joshua Josephs is focused on making the most of his final season with the Vols.

Tennessee Volunteers defensive lineman Joshua Josephs has spent the past three seasons biding his time, quietly developing his skill set and impacting football games in any way he could. Josephs sat behind current Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Byron Young and James Pearce Jr., a two-time All-SEC selection and probable first-round NFL Draft pick, patiently waiting his turn.

Don't be fooled by his mild assessment of his 2024 season. Josephs tallied 39 tackles, nine for loss, 1.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, and two recoveries. However, he feels he left plays on the field. "I still don’t think I proved what I needed to prove," he told reporters on Wednesday. "I feel like there’s a lot more I could have done out there and there’s a lot more that I should have done out there that I still kind of hold over my head, but I’m still trying to move on from it. So I still feel like I’ve got quote-unquote something to prove."

That seems critical of someone who was one of the highest-impact players on the defense a season ago. However, Josephs is holding himself to a different standard. Newly minted outside linebackers coach Levorn Harbin spoke about that standard and how Josephs is approaching the offseason in one of his media availabilities earlier this spring.

"The player he wants to be is he wants to be a first-round draft pick. So with that being said, he wants to do a better job with the pass-rush. He grew last year as a run player. You want to continue on with that path, but get better at the pass-rush, understanding sets, and get better with his hands and his eyes."

The LEO position at Tennessee often proves to be one of the most productive defensive players in college football. Young and Pearce routinely decided wins and losses for the Volunteers, and the coaching staff expects Josephs to do the same. While Josephs has high expectations for himself and effusively praises the two who came before him, he acknowledged they are all different players.

"They’re their own people," Josephs said. "Byron, like he’s amazing story, amazing guy. James, amazing story, amazing guy. But at the end of the day, they’ve got different skill sets than me. I guess like you said, just to keep the high standard, yeah, I’ve got to keep that high standard. They kind of laid the path. Starting with Byron, he kind of laid the foundation of how relentless we’ve got to be, especially on the field. So I’ve just got to show that in my game."