2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report: D.J. Turner

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D.J. Turner, 5-11/178 Cornerback Michigan

D.J. Turner Scouting Report
By Charlie Campbell

Strengths:

Extremely fast

Can carry verticals

Explosive

Instant acceleration

Advanced recoverability

Speed to recover

Quick feet

Ability to break on the ball

Great corner to negate deep-speed receivers

Willing tackler

Dishes out some hard hits

Weaknesses:

Undersized

Short

Underweight

Gets pushed around by big receivers

Not as fluid as other small, fast corners

Could be picked on in the red zone

Summary: While Turner was not prolific for Michigan, he was a steady contributor over the past two seasons. Turner first saw the field in 2021, recording 33 tackle, two interceptions and seven passes broken up. For 2022, he put together 36 tackles, an interception and 10 pass breakups.

Instantly, Turner is going to be among the fastest players in the NFL. He can use that great speed to carry verticals and run with speed receivers down field. Turner is capable of running the route to prevent separation, and he will use his instant acceleration to stay with his assignments out of their breaks. His burst and explosion give him some serious recoverability skills. Many teams in the NFL can struggle with super-fast wide receivers downfield and have to give cornerbacks help over the top. Turner’s NFL team won’t have to worry about that because he is able to run with the deep-speed receivers and keep them from getting open.



Turner is also a willing tackler who will come downhill and hit hard. While he is small, Turner is aggressive and uses his speed to close in a blur on ball-carriers.

The most concerning issue with Turner is his stature. He is a short and light cornerback, so he should not be matched up with big receivers who could make catches over him and/or push him aroung. Because of the size issue, Turner will mostly be relegated to being a nickelback, but teams do line up big receivers in the slot as well. Also, while Turner is fast, he has some stiffness.

In the 2023 NFL Draft, Turner could be a second-day pick.



Player Comparison: Donte Jackson. Turner’s combination of small size and elite speed is similar to Jackson’s, but Turner is more like a poor man’s Jackson. Turner has more stiffness and is tighter than the uber-fluid Jackson. Also, both can have issues with big receivers, but Jackson (5-10, 180) is more sound in coverage – even though he is a gambler at times. In the NFL, I could see Turner being a lesser version of Jackson.

2023 NFL Draft Player Previews - Choose Player 2023 NFL Draft Player Previews - Home Devon Achane, RB, Texas A&M Adetomiwa Adebawore, DE, Northwestern Jordan Addison, WR, USC Will Anderson, DE, Alabama Felix Anudike-Uzomah, DE, Kansas State Steve Avila, G, TCU Deonte Banks, CB, Maryland Micah Baskerville, LB, LSU Keeanu Benton, DT, Wisconsin Matthew Bergeron, OT, Syracuse Mekhi Blackmon, CB, USC Kayshon Boutte, WR, LSU Brian Branch, S, Alabama Julius Brents, CB, Kansas State Bryan Bresee, DT, Clemson Chase Brown, RB, Illinois Sydney Brown, S, Illinois Jack Campbell, LB, Iowa Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia Zach Charbonnet, RB, UCLA Malik Cunningham, QB, Louisvile Gervon Dexter, DT, Florida Josh Downs, WR, North Carolina Max Duggan, QB, TCU Jaelyn Duncan, OT, Maryland Zach Evans, RB, Ole Miss Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College Emmanuel Forbes, CB, Notre Dame Isaiah Foskey, DE, Notre Dame Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Alabama Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon Derick Hall, OLB, Auburn Jaren Hall, QB, BYU Anton Harrison, OT, Oklahoma Daiyan Henley, LB, Washington State Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee Jalin Hyatt, WR, Tennessee Siaki Ika, DT, Baylor Antonio Johnson, S, Texas A&M Paris Johnson, OT, Ohio State Quentin Johnston, WR, TCU Broderick Jones, G, Georgia Dawand Jones, OT, Ohio State Calijah Kancey, DT, Pittsburgh Dalton Kincaid, TE, Utah Sam LaPorta, TE, Iowa Will Levis, QB, Kentucky Quan Martin, CB, Illinois Cody Mauch, G, North Dakota State Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame Will McDonald, DE, Iowa State Kenny McIntosh, RB, Georgia Tanner McKee, QB, Stanford Kendre Miller, RB, TCU Jonathan Mingo, WR, Ole Miss Cam Mitchell, CB, Northwestern Malachi Moore, S, Alabama Mike Morris, DE, Michigan Wanya Morris, OT, Oklahoma Myles Murphy, DE, Clemson Luke Musgrave, TE, Oregon State Zion Nelson, OT, Miami B.J. Ojulari, OLB, LSU Demarvion Overshown, LB, Texas Owen Pappoe, LB, Auburn Jarrett Patterson, C, Notre Dame Clark Phillips, CB, Utah Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State Anthony Richardson, QB, Florida Kelee Ringo, CB, Georgia Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas Chris Rodriguez, RB, Kentucky Drew Sanders, LB, Arkansas Noah Sewell, LB, Oregon Trenton Simpson, LB, Clemson Peter Skoronski, OT, Northwestern Cam Smith, CB, South Carolina Mazi Smith, DT, Michigan Nolan Smith, DE, Georgia Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State John Michael Schmitz, C, Minnesota Tyler Steen, OT, Alabama Tyrique Stevenson, CB, Miami C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State Cedric Tillman, WR, Tennessee Joe Tippman, C, Wisconsin O'Cyrus Torrence, G, Florida Henry To'oTo'o, LB, Alabama Tuli Tuipulotu, DE, USC D.J. Turner, CB, Michigan Lukas Van Ness, DE, Iowa Deuce Vaughn, RB, Kansas State Tyree Wilson, DE, Texas Tech Darnell Washington, TE, Georgia Keion White, DE, Georgia Tech Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois Darnell Wright, OT, Tennessee Bryce Young, QB, Alabama

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