Jack of all Trades: Can Turner Be Master of Two?
GREEN BAY, Wis. – In these uncertain times, Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Billy Turner has found some comfort in his uncertain situation.
After starting all 16 games and playing 1,076 of 1,078 snaps last season – with 1,072 of those coming at right guard – Turner has spent the first three days of training camp splitting his time between right guard and right tackle.
“It’s going well,” Turner said after Tuesday’s practice, the first padded practice of camp. “As I’m sure you know, as I’m sure everyone else knows, our world today is unpredictable. I’ve never approached a season thinking I was going to be playing the same position because, as an offensive lineman in the National Football League, it’s rare that you carry out an entire season with the same starting lineup at the beginning of every single season. That being said, playing different positions is something that I’m used to.”
When Turner signed a four-year, $28 million deal in free agency last offseason, it came with the understanding that he might be the line’s designated man on the move. A third-round pick by Miami in 2014, Turner started a total of 25 games with the Dolphins from 2014 through 2016 and Broncos from 2016 through 2018. By position, he started 12 games at right guard, eight games at left guard, four games at right tackle and one game at left tackle.
Last year, for the first time in his career, Turner won a starting job out of training camp. However, rather than getting to use a total of 18 starts (including playoffs) at right guard as a foundation for his second year with the team, Packers coach Matt LaFleur created a three-man derby between Turner, Rick Wagner and Lane Taylor for the right-side positions.
“You know what, I would love to say yes [to wishing he had a chance to build upon last season] but I’ve never played the same position two years in a row,” Turner said. “I can play any position on the offensive line. As much as I would love to say yes, it doesn’t really faze me. It doesn’t really matter to me which of those positions I’m playing as long as it is the best five out there and the best group out there giving us the best opportunity to go in and win games.”
Athletic, durable and popular among his teammates, Turner had a so-so first season with the team. Of 63 guards to play at least 50 percent of the snaps, he finished 58th in ProFootballFocus.com’s pass-protection metric with six sacks, six hits and 45 total pressures. That pressure count was the worst in the league among guards. Sports Info Solutions charged him with 12 blown blocks in the run game, fourth-most among all guards. Many of his issues, however, came at the start of the season.
Now, Turner is fighting for a job … somewhere. Will it be Turner or Rick Wagner as the replacement for Bryan Bulaga at right tackle? Will it be Turner or Lane Taylor at right guard? Or will it be the veteran duo of Taylor at right guard and Wagner at right tackle, with Turner being one high-priced sixth man?
Taylor and Wagner are fortunate that they are locked into familiar spots. Turner, on the other hand, has the challenge of working in a phone booth against a power player on one snap and then bouncing out to the edge against an athletic rusher the next. Jacks of all trades are great for teams on game days. From a player’s perspective, though, there’s always the danger of being a jack of all trades but master of none.
“Obviously, at the beginning training of camp, it takes a little bit to kind of get used to,” he said. “For me, it’s a little bit harder to go from tackle to guard than it is from guard to tackle just from the timing standpoint with your hands in pass pro. But other than that, it is what it is. You can’t really sit and dwell on not having as much time to prepare because all 32 NFL teams are in the same situation.”
