Bears Draft Profile Part 5: Dallas Turner
Photo Credit: Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
DETROIT (PSF) — A little over three weeks remain until the NFL Draft commences in the motor city. The Chicago Bears have a plethora of options with the ninth overall pick, one of which is Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Dallas Turner.
Turner was ranked the number one EDGE rusher by 247 Sports coming out of high school and the 12th best prospect in the nation. In his three years in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Turner has accumulated 22.5 sacks and 32.5 tackles for loss (TFL), with 10 sacks and 14.5 TFL this past year which was eighth in all FBS programs in terms of sacks.
Turner showcases an uncommon combination of speed and power, also being one of the most explosive pass rushers off the snap. He boasts a good size for a pass rusher being 6 feet 3 inches tall and 247 pounds. He showed improvements in power rushes as his collegiate career went on, that was one of his biggest flaws going into this season.
In his final year, he won many accolades, including Associated Press All-American, First-Team All-SEC, and SEC defensive player of the year. He also was a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Defensive Player of the Year Award, the honor given to the nation’s best pass rusher.
At the NFL Combine, Turner had an amazing performance. Clocking in a 4.47 40-yard dash and a 40.5 inch vertical jump. His overall combine grade was a 6.70 and his grade was tied for second among pass rushers with Pennsylvania State defensive end Chop Robinson.
Turner is 21, so he is significantly younger in scouts’ eyes compared to Florida State DE Jared Verse, 24, and he is listed as an outside linebacker. So there may be a brief period of adjustment for him as Head Coach Matt Eberflus runs a 4-3 scheme instead of the 3-4 that Turner is accustomed to.
The Bears have a clear need at pass rusher due to their lack of big moves regarding that position in free agency. With recent additions at wide receiver, the likelihood of the Bears drafting a prospect like Washington Huskies wide receiver Rome Odunze become less and less likely.
Turner is projected to go eighth overall in Mel Kiper’s recent Mock Draft to the Atlanta Falcons. Depending on how the draft falls, the Bears could either lie in wait for Turner to fall down the board or jump up to grab him before other teams have a chance to.
