New Packers Kicker ‘Cool as a Cucumber’

James Turner should be ready for his place in the Green Bay Packers’ three-man kicking competition.

Turner was released by the Detroit Lions this week and claimed off waivers by the Packers following the release of Jack Podlesny. He is no stranger in dealing with pressure.

After four seasons at Louisville, he transferred to Michigan for his final collegiate season. He made 18-of-21 field goals. In helping the Wolverines win the national championship, he made a 50-yard field goal and the clinching 37-yarder in the rivalry showdown against Ohio State, all four attempts against Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game, and both field goals in the title game against Washington.

“He’s cool as a cucumber, stoic,” Wolverines special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh said before the playoff win against Alabama. “Never too high -- definitely never too high -- and only gets mildly low. You want the players to be themselves; he’s definitely himself. You know exactly what you’re getting every day.”

After two missed field goals and one missed extra point in the first four games, Turner went nine consecutive games without a miss.

Turner spent his first four seasons at Louisville, serving as the placekicker in 2020, 2021 and 2022 before moving onto Michigan for 2023.

In those four seasons, he made 189-of-192 extra points, with one miss apiece in 2021, 2022 and 2023. On field goals, he was 13-of-15 (86.7 percent) in 2020, 14-of-22 (63.6 percent) in 2021, 20-of-22 (90.0 percent) in 2022 and 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) in 2023.

“He’s one of the best in the country,” Harbaugh said. “We’re really thankful he’s here.”

The Lions released him not because he was struggling but because they signed UFL phenom Jake Bates. Indeed, before the Lions signed Bates, Turner was viewed as a legit challenger to veteran Michael Badgley. At one practice, Turner hit from 56 and 55 (while Badgley missed).

“I feel really good,” he told The Detroit Free Press after a recent practice. “I feel like I'm in a really good place right now. I've got a routine. It feels really good.”

“I came here, did the local pro day here and (special teams coordinator Dave) Fipp was like a big fan from Day 1 and believed in me and I knew that this would be a good spot to be,” he added.

This should be a good spot for Turner, too. The Packers went through the offseason with incumbent Anders Carlson, free-agent addition Greg Joseph and Podlesny locked in a three-man battle.

Before OTAs, special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia joked the kicking competition could expand to six players. Well, maybe not all at once, but the Packers are up to four kickers this offseason.

“It might be those three. It might be three other ones. I don’t know. It might be six,” Bisaccia said. “We’re appreciative of (general manager) Brian (Gutekunst) getting it to the point where it’s at right now, having a three-man competition. We’ll see how long we can keep that going. There’s some things going on in a bunch of different leagues, so we’re going to keep investigating to try to end up with the best player we possibly can.”

Carlson and Joseph have big legs. So does Turner. At pro day, he drilled one from 63 yards.

By distance the past four seasons, Turner was 20-of-21 from 20 to 29 yards and 24-of-24 from 30 to 39 yards, but was 17-of-25 from 40 to 49 yards and 4-of-10 from 50-plus. At Michigan, he was 2-of-2 from 20 to 29 yards, 10-of-10 from 30 to 39 yards, 3-of-5 from 40 to 49 yards and 3-of-4 from 50-plus yards. All three of the deep kicks last season were from exactly 50 yards.

At Louisville, he handled kickoffs for about half of the 2019 season. In 2020, he was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, which goes to the nation’s top kicker.

Of note, Turner kicked off only three times during his final four seasons. His lone attempt at Michigan resulted in a touchback.