BLACKSBURG — James Djonkam doesn’t show hesitation during recent Virginia Tech football practices. The Eastern Michigan transfer lines up at defensive end, sees the ball being snapped and immediately seeks out the ball carrier to deliver a hit.
He called the move to defensive end “probably the best change without a doubt I’ve made since playing college football.”
The Springfield native wasn’t singing that tune when Hokies defensive line coach J.C. Price initially recruited Djonkam out of the transfer portal over the winter.
So what changed?
“I love how simple and see-ball, get-ball it is,” Djonkam said after Tuesday’s practice. “As soon as the ball’s snapped, just look at the running back’s alignment and base my stance off of that, and, boom, just go.”
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Virginia Tech defensive end James Djonkam (center) celebrates after making a play during a recent spring practice in Blacksburg.
Djonkam spent his first five college seasons playing at either outside linebacker, edge rusher or middle linebacker. His move to defensive end in defensive coordinator Sam Siefkes’ scheme will allow the 6-foot-2 Djonkam to display his explosiveness and line up on the opposite side of fellow edge rusher and Texas State transfer Ben Bell.
“I think that’s the biggest thing is they have shown the ability to have success in the different various positions that we may play them,” Siefkes said of Djonkam and Bell in late February. “I think that’s intriguing when you bring those guys in.”
Bell primarily played off the edge during his time at Texas State.
Djonkam, on the other hand, has played everywhere in a front seven besides defensive tackle. He lined up at either outside linebacker or edge rusher during his two seasons at Independence Community College and two seasons at Arizona State.
His time at the junior college level allowed his confidence to grow. He joined Independence’s program at the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020 and was welcomed into an outside linebacker room that featured Joko Willis and Tra Wilkins.
Willis was committed to go to play at Auburn. Wilkins was a bounceback after spending the 2019 season at Kentucky. That’s two linebackers with SEC pedigrees at a position group that Djonkam, fresh out of high school, was hoping to beat out so he could get noticed by major programs.
“I was scared,” he said. “… I’m like, how am I even supposed to compare against these guys who have Power Five offers? … Back then, I was like, I don’t know what I can do to be as good as those guys.”
Djonkam started in the fall 2021 season and racked up 64 tackles (42 solo), 12.5 tackles for a loss, three sacks and three forced fumbles.
“Little by little, I climbed the depth chart, and I ended up starting,” he said.
He primarily played special teams during his two seasons at Arizona State and entered the transfer portal for his COVID season of eligibility.
Eastern Michigan had a need at Mike linebacker, and Djoknam filled that void by suiting up at the position last season.
The season playing at middle linebacker allowed Djonkam to learn how to read the offense before the snap. He picked up on tendencies through film study and found his voice in how to communicate what he saw with his fellow linebackers and the defensive line.
Djonkam posted 98 tackles (34 solo), 11.5 tackles for a loss and three sacks during his season with EMU.
“I feel like Luke Kuechly in Lawrence Taylor’s body, if that makes sense,” he said, before rattling off how plays were going to develop based on how the tight end and running back are aligned.
Virginia Tech defensive end James Djonkam looks on during a recent practice in Blacksburg.
Having Kuechly’s mind and Taylor’s ferocious play at defensive end might be what the Hokies need in whatever base alignment Siefkes settles on heading into the season.
“It was really just finding that perfect spot where I know I could dominate at for the coming up season,” Djonkam said.
Djonkam said he’s added seven pounds to his frame after moving from outside linebacker to defensive end last week, and he intends on adding seven more to reach 260 pounds.
“James is bigger and stronger than I expected,” Hokies coach Brent Pry said after a practice last week. “A guy that can strain and hold point and do things.”
Price’s other selling point in the recruiting process was having Djonkam come home.
Djonkam, a West Springfield High School graduate, hadn’t played in Virginia since his senior high school season in 2019. The prospect of playing again in Virginia became a possibility when the NCAA issued a blanket waiver for an extra year of eligibility to former junior college athletes who would have exhausted their eligibility in the 2024-25 season.
That meant Djonkam could turn his attention from declaring for the NFL Draft to entering the transfer portal.
“As soon as it happened, I entered the portal, got my eligibility back, found out all of that and it was without a doubt, it was a calling from God,” Djonkam said. “It was His plan. He wanted me to be here. Once that happened, I knew I had to come home.”
Djonkam secured his bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from EMU and is working on another bachelor’s degree during his time at Virginia Tech.
That isn’t his main focus for his final college season. His on-field production and development are the focal points.
“It’s going to sound bad, but my major’s football. Like I know right after football I want to be a coach or a trainer or something that is involved in the realm,” he said. “It’s like, for me, just as long as I’m around a great coach who has a good scheme, who can teach me this, that and a third, I’m good.
“I can go to class; I can do that. It’s easy, I’ve been doing it my whole life, but really, it’s just learning the football aspect of things, learning how to coach, learning how to call a defense. That’s probably more important to me right now.”
A day of rest
Quarterback Kyron Drones did not participate in the open portion of practice Tuesday. He was dressed in his uniform, but did not have pads on while talking with Hokies coach Brent Pry as the quarterbacks zipped passes to wide receivers and tight ends.
A Virginia Tech spokesperson said Drones was given a “rest day” after being a full participant through winter workouts and the first seven practices of spring.
Drones suffered a stress fracture in his left foot, an MCL injury in his right knee and a turf toe injury in the second half of last season, and the rest could be as a precaution to prevent wear and tear on the first-string quarterback.
Safety Quentin Reddish had a walking boot on his right foot and did not participate in the open portion of practice.
