Jose Ramirez, a former JUCO product, was a known quantity in MAC circles prior to his explosive 2022 campaign. He won a rotational job quickly in 2020, and his knack for backfield penetration earned him a starting spot fairly quickly by 2021.
2022 is when Ramirez became a household name, finishing as a third-team Associated Press AP All-American after an incredible 66 tackle, 19.5 tackle-for-loss and 12 sack season. His ability to convert those previous pressures into results was a large part of that, picking up eight more TFLs and six more sacks than the season prior to help steer EMU into a competitive division race.