2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Shemar Turner

Strengths:

• An ultra-competitive football player with extremely quick and violent hands.
• Powerful upper half to swat and chop away offensive linemen's punches.
• He offers alignment versatility and a bendy, pliable frame
• Turner has a motor that runs extremely hot. He works hard towards the football with contagious energy.
• He is a smart player who catches on to tells and uses them throughout the game.
• Turner possesses impressive athletic traits that can be weaponized on stunts and loops.
• Slippery at the line of scrimmage, blockers struggle to get a clean grip against his Tasmanian devil rushing style.
• An absolute warrior who barely missed any games despite a long list of injuries.

Weaknesses:

• Turner lacks the ideal mass to hold his ground against the run game on the interior.
• He has a boom-or-bust nature as a run defender when playing inside.
• When blockers can get inside his pads, the rep ends relatively quickly.
• His hand fighting feels more busy than purposeful a lot of the time.
• His upright rushing style could lead to issues at the NFL level.
• He must add more pass-rush counters to his attack to prevent stalemates.
• Turner is too content to settle into passing lanes and play the throw.
• He lacks power moves as an interior pass rusher.
• Tweener build, it is not clear how he fits in the NFL
• Long injury history, including a failed repair of a stress fracture, a torn labrum repair, and surgery for a shin injury

Shemar Turner Summary and Bears Fit:

I was not a big fan of Shemar Turner's 2024 tape, but the guy is borderline insane. He plays every down like his life depends on it. He was forced to kick inside when Nic Scourton transferred to Texas A&M, and his tape was more impressive on the edge, but he still has the size and profile of a tweener. That may be a good thing for Dennis Allen's scheme, though.

I am intrigued by Turner's upside and violence. He will challenge his teammates to match his contagious energy levels. Turner is the type of player who raises the intangibles of the room and could learn a thing or two from Grady Jarrett. While he was a reach at pick 62 because of his injury history, tweener profile, and wild playing style, he is a player who should add notable value to the Bears' defense in spurts.

I gravitate to more consistent players, but if healthy, Turner could be a real asset in a deep rotation. His stress fracture and the following surgeries scare the crap out of me, but I am not a medical professional. While there were a few other defensive tackles I would have valued over Turner, he fits the theme of the draft class. The Bears have added tenacious, violent football players who always bring the juice, which is hard to be upset about.

Pro Comp: Michael Bennett

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