22 Facts About Kerby Joseph

Kerby Joseph played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini, where he was an All-American.

Kerby Joseph grew up in Orlando, Florida and attended Jones High School.

Kerby Joseph was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at Illinois over offers from Mississippi State, Syracuse, South Florida and Florida Atlantic.

Kerby Joseph played mostly as a reserve defensive back and on special teams in his first two seasons at Illinois.

Kerby Joseph was named a starter going into his junior year and recorded 19 tackles in the Illini's COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.

Kerby Joseph was named first-team All-Big Ten Conference in 2021 after finishing the season with 57 tackles, one sack, and three fumble recoveries while intercepting five passes.

Kerby Joseph was the second of five defensive backs to be drafted from Illinois' vaunted secondary that spanned from 2018 to 2022.

Nate Hobbs was the first among them drafted in 2021, with Kerby Joseph following in 2022, and fellow defensive backs Devon Witherspoon, Quan Martin, and Sydney Brown completing the run of premier defensive backs from Illinois in 2023.

Kerby Joseph doesn't have great measurable, but I'll tell you what: Kerby Joseph can play a lot of football for Detroit.

Kerby Joseph didn't start until 2021, it was all special teams to that point, and then he went off.

Kerby Joseph became the first player in NFL history to intercept Aaron Rodgers three times in a season, as the Lions knocked the Packers out of playoff contention.

Kerby Joseph's performance earned him the National Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week, Joseph was the first Lions rookie to win the award in franchise history.

Kerby Joseph finished his rookie season in 2022 with a total of 82 combined tackles, eight pass deflections, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and four interceptions in 17 games and 14 starts.

Kerby Joseph won the Pro Bowl fan vote for NFC safeties as a rookie, but was ultimately not selected to the game due to the NFL's recent change in rules where the fan voting only constituted one third of the new selection process.

Kerby Joseph was named a first-team All-Rookie by numerous publications, including The Athletic.

Kerby Joseph entered training camp slated as the starting strong safety.

Kerby Joseph was inactive for two consecutive games due to a hamstring injury.

Kerby Joseph finished his sophomore season in 2023 with a total of 82 combined tackles, 11 pass deflections, and four interceptions while starting all 15 games he appeared in.

Kerby Joseph returned as the starting strong safety to begin the season and was paired with free safety Brian Branch.

Kerby Joseph's performance brought his interception total to nine, making him the NFL interceptions leader in 2024.

Kerby Joseph started all 17 games for the first time in his career and finished the 2024 NFL season with a total of 83 combined tackles, 12 pass deflections, nine interceptions, and a touchdown.

Kerby Joseph received an overall grade of 91.0 from Pro Football Focus, which ranked first among all safeties in 2024.