Bengals Film Breakdown: What Cornerback DJ Turner Brings to Lou Anarumo's Secondary

Cincinnati took Turner in the second-round (60th overall) in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Author:
Mike Santagata
Publish date:
May 5, 2023 2:01 PM EDT

In this story:

Bengals rookie cornerback DJ Turner blew everyone away with his combine performance when he ran the best 40-time (4.26 seconds) and finished with a 96th percentile relative athletic score. This elite level testing shows up for him on tape as he has a ginormous margin for error. His recovery speed and fluidity allow for him to win, even if he makes mistakes and gets beat during a play.

Even though he is a supreme athlete, some have him pegged as an inside cornerback since he's 5-11, 178 pounds and his arms are a quarter of an inch too short.

The Bengals have only talked about him as an outside corner, however, which makes sense because that’s where he played his entire career at Michigan. Not every corner needs to be typecast as an inside guy just because they’re under 6-foot tall. The smaller size is offset by not only his athleticism, but also his press technique. He is at his best when he can play on the outside and pressed up against an outside wide receiver and even when he fails, his athleticism can bail him out.

Let’s dive into Turner to look into what makes him such an intriguing cornerback:

Where He Excels

The first thing that you notice with Turner is his movement ability. Specifically his fluidity in movement and the ability to flip his hips quickly and under control. Turner has some of the smoothest hips in the entire class and this is useful as it allows him to change direction quickly to play sticky coverage. If he opens up the wrong way and allows the receiver into his blind spot, Turner can completely flip his hips and get back in the right position.

His 4.26 40-yard dash shows up on film. He has insane speed that he can use to stay with receivers as they push vertically or to recover if he makes a mistake in coverage. This in conjunction with his fluidity and change of direction create prototypical cornerback movement that everyone is searching to find.

Turner’s best technical ability is his soft press. He will generally do a good job of keeping his cushion and allow the receiver to declare their release before hitting them with a one hand jam and opening up to run. Due to his arm length, he will probably never be a corner that tries to mug receivers at the line of scrimmage, but he can still play press because of his ability in soft shoe press where he reacts to the receiver’s release.

Another technical area that Turner excels at is utilizing the sideline to his advantage. He does a great job of rerouting players to the sideline despite his smaller frame. He squeezes vertical routes to the sideline and knows that it's essentially an extra defender.

Turner typically stays tight to his man through the break at the top of the route. He trusts his speed and knows that his movement ability can get him back into any play. He generally has good eyes on the hip of the receiver so that he can determine where they are going to go. The confidence and movement ability combine to make a high quality man coverage cornerback.

Turner is an easier projection than some cornerbacks because he played more of an NFL style system at Michigan. While most colleges play a multitude of man match and zone match coverages, the Wolverines appeared to play more man-to-man and spot drop zone coverage than most college defenses. That allowed for more translatable reps to see how Turner will fit into the Cincinnati Bengals' defense.

Areas of Concern

Turner’s size does show up when it comes to the catch point. He can get boxed out and pushed around by bigger receivers at times and will also lose on some plays because the quarterback put the ball in the perfect place. His lack of length makes it difficult to break up passes that he is shielded away from by the receiver and even though he played sticky man coverage, he loses the rep because of this size and length issue.

Turner also has a tendency to get moved by blocks. Whether it’s from a receiver or a tight end, he struggles to disengage from the block and also will lose ground and get pushed backward. He needs to add more muscle mass to hold up a little bit better in this area at the NFL level.

He is a willing tackler, but due to his slender frame and improper form, he doesn't always bring down the ball carrier. He typically will just hop onto the ball carrier and try to drag them down that way rather than wrapping up and driving them backward. When he does manage to bring down the ball carrier it typically is with that player driving and falling forward rather than being taken down on the spot or driven backward.

Overall Thoughts

Turner is an intriguing outside cornerback prospect. If he was less than an inch taller, had a tad more arm length, and weighed 20 more pounds, he would be a clean 1st round prospect. He fell to the second round due to those measurables. He has the quintessential movement ability that you look for in a cornerback from his short area quickness to his long speed.

He does a fantastic job when he is playing soft press against the opposing receiver. He allows them to show if they are releasing to the inside or outside and then jams them and opens up to run. He also will mix in an effective, aggressive one hand stab where he is playing proactively rather than reactively at the line of scrimmage. His two hand jam at the line of scrimmage is more hit or miss because of the lack of arm length. The one hand stab has him turn his body to create a longer lever than he typically utilizes. Overall, this soft press with a mixture of a quick one hand stab is probably going to be where he makes his money as an NFL cornerback.

In man coverage he does a fantastic job of trusting his athleticism and playing tight to the receiver. Turner generally will not be fooled by the receiver in man-to-man coverage. At times he gets too aggressive and can be susceptible to double moves, but he can do that because of his elite recovery speed. Even though he is a good man to man corner, everyone gets beat. He has the fluid movement and recovery speed to get himself back into any play.

Turner’s zone coverage is not quite as good as his man coverage, but he generally does a nice job here as well. Michigan often plays spot drop zone coverage which will be what the Bengals generally play as well. He has experience playing bail quarters and cover three while also showing experience with Tampa Two. This should allow for a quicker transition than some corners. He is comfortable playing with his eyes on the quarterback and trying to read their intentions as well as the passing pattern in front of him.

Turner doesn't have bad ball skills, but he is a guy that will lose on contested catch situations due to his size. Bigger receivers were able to move him around and box him out. It’s unlikely that Turner gets longer or taller, but he can combat this at the NFL level by getting thicker and stronger. If he becomes more stout as a cornerback, then he can withstand some of the force when receivers try to push him around and instead stand his ground to hold positioning.

His slender frame will be an issue early on when it comes to run defense and tackling. He allows ball carriers to finish forward because of his lack of technique and size. He is a willing run defender and tackler, but right now he needs to work on getting stronger and his technical ability as a tackler. He likes to just jump onto players and try to drag them down that way when he should be wrapping up their legs to bring them down.

Overall, he’s a high quality coverage corner who needs to add a little bit of weight to become a better all around cornerback.

Schematic Fit

Turner will most likely be the Bengals' fourth cornerback. He may play outside or at the nickel spot at times this season and could be the future outside starting corner alongside Cam Taylor-Britt.

Turner could potentially push for one of the jobs this year, especially if Chidobe Awuzie (ACL) is unable to go by Week 1, but it’s more likely that this is a year for him to bulk up and work on his technique. Turner and Taylor-Britt should make for an interesting duo.

Taylor-Britt is thicker and can be used on big bodied guys, while Turner will most likely be the guy that is taking on the quick moving receivers. Both excel when pressed up against the receiver.

Turner's NFL Comparison

Donte Jackson

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