Michigan football's DJ Turner named among top 10 cornerbacks in the nation
Michigan football has questions to sort out on defense in 2022. Senior cornerback DJ Turner is not one of them. The Wolverine defensive back was one of the team’s breakout players last season, coming on halfway through the year to hold things down in the secondary.
He will not sneak up on anyone this year, though. Turner enters the season as Michigan’s unquestioned No. 1 cornerback. It could also make him one of the best at his position in college football.
Pro Football Focus thinks so, anyway. Turner was recently named one of the ten best cornerbacks in America ahead of the 2022 campaign. The Michigan corner ranked sixth among his peers across the country.
“Turner took on a starting spot for the first time in his Michigan career in Week 8 this past season and performed at a high level from that point forward,” PFF wrote. “His 80.7 coverage grade from Week 8 on was the third-best among Power Five outside corners. And Turner did that despite playing a decent amount of press-man and being picked on with the 13th-highest target rate among that group at 17.4%. The 2019 four-star recruit allowed the fourth-lowest catch rate in the Power Five over that span at 42%. Overall, Turner finished with an 83.3 coverage grade and is a candidate to obtain elite status in 2022.”
Turner (6-0, 181 pounds), has appeared in 21 games including 14 in the Michigan secondary with seven starts, all coming last season. His late emergence earned him honorary All-Big Ten honors from the coaches and media.
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DJ Turner gets a push from Michigan assistant
Michigan feels good about the cornerbacks on the roster with the emergence of redshirt sophomore DJ Turner last season. Defensive backs coach/co-coordinator Steve Clinkscale made it sound like he got off to a bit of a slow start this spring, but picked it up. Learning to bring it every day is part of his development.
“DJ made the biggest stride during the [last] season because he’s competitive,” Clinkscale said during Michigan’s spring camp. “After you have some success like that, the hardest thing for a player is to continue to be hungry. That is easy for me to see. As a coach that is easy for me to see and when I felt like he was lacking or not on his A-game, I addressed it. I made him improve it. I could tell in the last three practices he snapped back to it. It’s a maturity to understand that he has all these accolades now and there’s responsibility with that.
“A leader is not just showing up and doing your job. It’s about you showing up and helping carry that legacy in the defensive back room. He has really tried to own that and I have enjoyed coaching him this spring.”
