SI All-American Candidate Shemar Turner Highlights and Evaluation
Prospect: Shemar Turner
Projected Position: Defensive End or Defensive Tackle
Status: SI All-American Candidate
Vitals: 6-foot-3, 260 pounds
School: Desoto (Texas)
Committed to: Texas A&M.
Frame: Wide shoulders with fair length in arms. Lower torso has decent narrowness. Above-average hips and thighs.
Athleticism: Stout and strong player who likes to mix it up at the point of attack. Shows some power in his punch with his upper-body. Possesses a strong lower-half, which allows him to fight through contact. Can thump with a good fit at collision points. Flashes solid ability to corner in tight space when closing.
Instincts: Has a good feel for lateral flow and is capable of reducing and exchanging. Very good mesh-point vision and does not fall for run action and misdirection much. Can take advantage of hip-turners and leaky anchors at set points as a pass-rusher. Alert to take on backside pullers and can stymie with power.
Polish: Lines up at 2i, 4i and 5-technique, which has given him experience inside and on the edges, where he has been used as occasional inside stabber on TE-X stunts. Is capable of stringing together multiple moves during a single pass-rush. Arsenal features speed-to-power, swim and long-arm stab that he tries to swim off of. Also flashes a forklift. Can have a high hat in take-on phase. Long pursuits can expose some heavy feet. Spin move needs to be reworked.
Bottom Line: Turner is an interesting defensive line prospect, as he is capable of playing inside and on the edge. He’s physical at the point of attack and consistently finds the ball with quick eyes. Though he’s not a sizzling pass-rusher at this point, he does have a varied pass-rush toolbox for a young player. Turner could develop into a 1-gap defensive tackle or end, or fit fine in a 2-gap defensive scheme as well.