D.J. Turner

Cincinnati Bengals

Pos CB

Updated October 8, 2026

Compare D.J. Turner CB rankings →

Model Score

82.2 MODEL

2023

79.6

2024

68.8

2025

91.7

2026

82.2

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

STM Take

Tier 8 (#102) rookie to tier 2 (#12) sophomore-plus-one is a 90-spot two-year jump that puts Turner in the rarest outlier-positive class at the CB position. The Michigan 2023 CFP National Championship pedigree plus the Bengals' position-specific coaching appears to be the catalyst. The 2026 question is whether Turner earns his first Pro Bowl plus holds tier 2 territory or whether the 2025 finish was a one-year context spike.

Turner came out of Michigan as the Cincinnati Bengals' 2nd-round pick (60th overall) in 2023 after winning the 2023 CFP National Championship Game with the Wolverines. He has spent three years with the Bengals as developmental depth and rotational CB. His STTM career runs tier 8 (#102) rookie, tier 8 (#89) sophomore, and tier 2 (#12) breakout in 2025.

Strengths

90-spot two-year STTM jump from tier 8 (#102) rookie to tier 2 (#12) in 2025 puts him in the rarest outlier-positive class at the CB position.
Michigan 2023 CFP National Championship pedigree plus the Bengals' position-specific coaching gives him real college and developmental foundation.

Concerns

Single tier 2 finish in an otherwise tier 8 STTM history puts the 2025 production on a small sample with significant downside risk.
Cincinnati's broader defensive identity around the Trey Hendrickson contract uncertainty compresses the structural support around Turner.

What to watch: Whether Turner earns his first Pro Bowl in 2026 plus holds tier 3 or better, the threshold for confirming the 2025 breakout was structural.