Throughout the 2025 NFL season, SB Nation’s Doug Farrar will write about the game’s Secret Superstars — those players whose performances might slip under the radar for whatever reasons. In this installment, we turn our attention to Cincinnati Bengals cornerback DJ Turner II, who has become a legitimate shutdown defender in his third NFL campaign.
Predicting the success of players in the future is obviously not a foolproof concept, but there are signs worth watching. On the defensive side of the ball, if you have a defensive lineman with a lot of quarterback pressures but a low sack total, it could be that the quarterback takedowns are on the verge. Similarly, if you have a defensive back who’s racking up pass deflections all over the place, it may be that the interceptions are coming, and at that point, said defensive back could enter the NFL’s elite at his position.
Welcome to the world of Cincinnati Bengals cornerback DJ Turner II.
Turner, who ran a blazing 4.26-second 40-yard dash with a 1.46-second 10-yard split at the 2023 scouting combine and was selected with the 61st overall pick in the second round of that draft, has improved exponentially in each of his three NFL seasons.
In his rookie campaign, Turner allowed 38 catches on 66 targets for 664 yards, 293 yards after the catch, four touchdowns, no interceptions, six pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 112.2. Last season, he gave up 21 catches on 39 targets for 253 yards, 77 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, no interceptions, eight pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 74.0. Sadly, Turner missed the last six games of the 2024 season due to a fractured clavicle, but you could see where things were going.
It’s why Turner was one of my most prominent Hidden Gems for the 2025 season, and he’s certainly lived up to it. Through seven games in 2025, including the Bengals’ 33-31 Thursday night win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Turner has allowed 14 catches on 32 targets for 225 yards, 52 yards after the catch, one touchdown, two interceptions, a league-leading 13 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 52.2 — third-best in the NFL among cornerbacks with at least 50% of their defensive snaps, behind only Jamel Dean of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Isaiah Rodgers of the Minnesota Vikings.
Turner got his first NFL interception out of the way early — in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns, and current Bengals starter Joe Flacco. It was a bit of a handoff from receiver Cedric Tillman to Turner, but hey — being a good cornerback is about being in the right place at the right time.
Against the Steelers, Turner was on quite the heater. He allowed one catch on three targets for 39 yards — a tightly-contested boundary route from Aaron Rodgers to D.K. Metcalf with 13:50 left in the first quarter — and from there, it was Lockdown City. Turner had a pass breakup on a Rodgers quick pass underneath to tight end Jonnu Smith, and an interception of another Rodgers boundary route to Metcalf with 43 seconds left in the first half, where the 5’11, 180-pound Turner basically ripped the ball from the 6’3, 230-pound Metcalf’s person.
Moreover, Turner is constantly improving in a defense that ranks 30th in DVOA, and 30th against the pass. Defensive coordinator Al Golden has recently signed off on the benching of linebacker Logan Wilson, and the “healthy scratch” portion of Cam Taylor-Britt’s career. So, it’s not as if Turner has a ton of help around him.
No matter what other things bedevil the Bengals’ defense, DJ Turner II has become the kind of player every coach wants and every team needs — that legitimate shutdown cornerback capable of matching up with any No. 1 receiver you care to mention, and shutting that receiver down. He’s a mandatory building block for a defense that needs a ton of construction elsewhere.
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