At one point, the 2025-26 Cincinnati Bengals were on pace to be the worst defense ever.
After the bye, things improved enough for them to finish being just bad, not historically bad.
So the panel that votes for the All Pro teams probably didn’t consider any individual players from the Bengals’ defense too seriously.
But if you look at DJ Turner’s performance in a vacuum, you can make a strong argument that he was one of the top corners in the league.
As you can see in the graphic below, Turner was the primary defender for the majority of snaps of a lot of WR1s and kept them to modest games.
In addition to his air-tight coverage, Turner finished with 18 passes defended, the second highest total in the entire NFL.
Further, the poor play around him should actually support his case, as it’s difficult to keep receivers from making plays with no real pass rush threat. Myles Murphy led the team in sacks with 5.5, but even he didn’t really emerge until later in the season.
All of this should just be motivation for Turner to play with even more fire next year. Hopefully this time, his defensive teammates will step up with him so he can get the recognition he deserves.
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