NFL Draft: Interview with Rutgers Defensive Lineman Julius Turner
“Put your pride to the side.”
That’s the advice that NFL Draft prospect, Julius Turner, gave to younger football players hoping to get their start in the NFL or one of the other professional football leagues making a return.
Turner is an athlete that teams are going to want heading into next season. The Scarlet Knight is one of over 250 hopefuls in this year’s NFL Draft.
Julius Turner is a defensive lineman from Rutgers University in New Jersey. The 6-foot, 275-lb beast had 16 solo tackles, 26 assists and two and a half sacks for 17 yards. He tied the record for most career games (58) and was elected to the 2021 Third Team All-Big Ten, 2021 Honorable Mention All-Big Ten and the 2021 Academic All-Big Ten.
Since his sophomore year at Rutgers, Turner proved his skills and earned many honors along the way. His athleticism, versatility and love for the game are aspects teams should pay attention to when he projects to go in the late rounds.
Turner hopes to bring his skillset to a worthy team in this year’s draft. His career with Rutgers’ well-respected football program is only just a fraction of Turner’s success.
Turner started playing in Mississippi, where he grew up. He loved football early on and that’s where his career really took off.
“I really loved playing basketball at first, but as I got older, I didn’t get as tall as I wanted to get,” Turner said.
Turner decided that is was better for him to stick to football as he got older. He weighed the options and found that he had a better chance at getting a scholarship. He also just loved football, noting that it’s an “exciting and fun game.”
Turner was recruited in 2016 by Rutgers in New Jersey. The scenery the Big-10 conference drew him in, but another aspect of playing in the northeast might have sealed the deal.
“I get out [to Rutgers] for my official visit and I just see a lot of snow and I was just overwhelmed, I thought it was cool,”
Turner had never seen snow, but playing in Rutgers, he had more than enough opportunities to have fun with the winter weather (and in New Jersey, there are plenty of opportunities to do so.)
His transition from the hot and humid to more temperate weather was not a hard transition for Turner as he prefers the weather here.
“The transition was good, it was real good. I wouldn’t take anything back,” Turner said. “Seeing the northeast was a blessing,”
Besides building off of the well-respected football program, Turner has been working out every day to prepare for the draft and what’s to come in his next football chapter. Turner said that staying consistent is the “hardest thing to do,” but pushes through the mental block because the reward is much bigger. Turner has been working on getting his hands and feet quicker as well.
Like every year, this year’s draft is very competitive as there is a lot of great defensive talent. Turner brings great qualities to the table, such as speed on the defensive line, but he feels his best asset is off the field.
“Just being me,” Turner said, talking about what stands him apart from others. “My personality off the field, my character, and my leadership skills [are what sets me apart],”
People have seen some of these great traits on and off the field in last year’s class who have had breakout seasons fresh out of the draft.
Turner is more than motivated to be that person for his team next season.
“It’s real big, I always like seeing guys doing well,” Turner said. “It’s motivation just seeing guys fulfill their dreams. You can do the same thing if you put your mind to it.”
Besides looking to his fellow brothers in the NFL for inspiration, Turner is also inspired by some of the veterans as well. Turner looks up to Super Bowl champion, Aaron Donald, to emulate his play style. Turner studied Donald since his years in Pittsburgh, especially looking at his explosiveness and his ability in using what he has to his advantage.
Turner looks to other guys as well, like Kenny Clark, for the same reasons.
“[I] study their game and try to take stuff from there,” Turner said.
Turner faced a lot of adversity in his college years, but COVID was definitely a curveball. He played for six years, having an extra year of eligibility because of COVID.
“The COVID year was crazy, we didn’t know if we were going to have a season that year,” Turner said.
In his unusual season, the team was “on and off.” Turner talked about how the team had to live in their apartments for about a month to keep safe.
Regardless of the circumstances, Turner and his team got creative.
“We ended up building a weight room in our garage,” Turner said. Another thing his team did was have video calls with coaches.
“I’m grateful for the staff having us do that because we ended up having a season. Turner said. “It was a blessing for me, I feel like I definitely took advantage of it,”
Turner’s long football journey led him to the draft, and his family and teammates are very excited to see where he will land.
“I have a very supportive family. They’ve been supporting me way before this, ever since high school.” Turner said. “They’re just very excited, I can’t even explain it. They’re super excited just like me.”
Turner reflected on his time early on at Rutgers where he faced adversity early and pushed through.
“I remember my first year, when I was at Rutgers in 2016, we were just going through workouts and camps…I didn’t think football was for me because everybody was bigger, faster, stronger than me,” Turner said.
His parting advice for younger talent is that “everyone is on the same level” and to remember to “be coachable” and “put your pride to the side.”
Scarlet Knight, Julius Turner, is one of the many prospects who will hopefully cash in his years on the college level for his start in the NFL. If the Rutgers’ 2022 Scarlet-White Spring Football Game showed the sports community anything, it’s that Scarlet Knights are a force to be reckoned with.
