30 Days of Colts' Fits: Delarrin Turner-Yell, Safety, Oklahoma

The 2022 NFL Draft is officially just a month away. In order to help you all along until draft day, I decided to start a daily prospect spotlight series to talk about some players that the Colts could target next month.

The players mentioned in this series will be players that I have either heard that the team is really high on, or are players that just make way too much sense for the team based on fit/past draft history.

Next up on the countdown to Draftmas is Oklahoma safety Delarrin Turner-Yell.

Background

Turner-Yell is a former three star recruit that chose Oklahoma over Baylor and Texas Tech. While he did deal with his fair share of injuries in his college career, he appeared in 36 games over four seasons for the Sooners.

Turner-Yell put together a strong career in college, earning a significant starting role in his final few seasons. He finished with 190 total tackles, 10 tackles for a loss, six pass deflections, four interceptions, and one forced fumble.

He saved his best for last, earning Second Team All-Big 12 honors as a senior. He also earned Academic All-Big 12 honors and took on a role as a leader and captain for his final year with the program.

Delarrin Turner-Yell with a big stop on 3rd down. pic.twitter.com/XBvc7pWL2L
— 𝕺𝖐𝖑𝖆𝖍𝖔𝖒𝖆 𝖛𝖘. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 (@soonergridiron) November 20, 2021

Size/Testing Numbers

Height: 5'10"

Weight: 197 pounds

Arm Length: 31 3/4 inches

Testing Numbers: 40 Time: 4.47 seconds / Vertical Jump: 38.5 inches / Broad Jump: 121 inches / Short-Shuttle: 4.3 seconds

Oklahoma safety Delarrin Turner-Yell explained why the #Sooners defense started the spring game leading 21-0.

"One of the main things that we pride ourselves on is giving up less than three touchdowns a game." Credit: @SoonerSportsTV pic.twitter.com/wBKyJfiYlw
— The REF (@KREFsports) April 28, 2021

Ability on Film

Turner-Yell is an impressive player on film that can do it all on the backend. He has the speed to play over the top as a half field or deep center-fielder, and he feels comfortable coming up in the run game as an enforcer.

If I had to compare his game to any safety in the league, I would actually pick Khari Willis. Turner-Yell is a sturdy and strong safety that is at his best coming downhill. He is most comfortable playing in the box, even though he does offer the positional flexibility to rotate deep.

The biggest issue with Turner-Yell on film is that he is one of those players that is a bit of a "master of none." He has good speed, but it isn't elite or top tier. He is a physical player, but he misses too many tackles to be a true enforcer. He is good in man coverage, but I certainly wouldn't classify it as lockdown.

While this may spurn some of you from his game, I think this makes Turner-Yell the perfect type of third safety in the NFL. He is well-rounded player that is capable of performing in any role on the backend. As long as he can stay healthy, Turner-Yell should have a good career in the league.

Fit with the Colts/Team Interest

Turner-Yell would be an ideal player for the Colts to grab in this draft to replace George Odum's role. He may not be a starter in the NFL, but he is a player that can backup both safety spots and be a demon on special teams.

In terms of interest, Turner-Yell actually missed his Pro Day with Oklahoma due to an illness. His agency, luckily, scheduled a private Pro Day for him and invited NFL teams to attend. The Colts sent their Assistant Director of College Scouting Matt Terpening to attend this individual Pro Day.

That should speak to some level of interest if the Colts sent a higher up personnel member to this individual Pro Day. Overall, Turner-Yell is a solid safety in this draft class that has the potential to be a long-time role player in the NFL.

He would be an excellent depth selection for the Colts on day three of the draft.

Follow Zach on Twitter @ZachHicks2.

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