The Chicago Bears continued to shore up the defensive trenches with the selection of Texas A&M defensive tackle Shemar Turner with the 62nd overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
Turner, a three-year starter, is an explosive interior defender who’s a solid run defender and fits the aggressive style of defense that Allen is looking to employ in Chicago. Last season with the Aggies, he totaled 36 tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, one pass breakup and a forced fumble in 12 starts.
Turner brings versatility to the defensive line, where he can line up on the edge and wreak havoc on the quarterback. It’ll be interesting to see how defensive coordinator Dennis Allen utilizes Turner in this defense.
Here’s what some expert draft analysts had to say about turner during the pre-draft process and what Bears fans can expect to see:
“A three-year starter at Texas A&M, Turner played a three-technique role as a senior in head coach Mike Elko’s four-man front, logging snaps everywhere from zero- to seven-technique. After playing primarily on the edge as an underclassman, he added weight for the transition inside in 2024 and made his presence known on every tape studied, despite playing through a stress fracture.
With his active motor and body quickness, Turner finds ways to pierce gaps and affect the backfield action. He has a strong, explosive grip to snatch and displace blockers in the run game, although he can be a liability at times when he abandons his gap or fails to break down and finish. Much will be made of his overzealous tendencies, which draw attention from officials, but as one scout described him: “He’s the type you want on your side.” Overall, Turner needs to introduce more discipline to his play style, but he prides himself on being the aggressor and relies on his initial twitch, fierce hands and combative mentality to be a factor. He projects best as a penetrating one-gap tackle.”
“Three-year starter with “tweener” measurables but excellent musculation and lean mass. Turner plays with unlimited activity and a heavy dose of violence. He has a quick first step and an explosive punch. He’s capable of holding the point against single blocks or working the gaps with foot quickness. His pressure rate is hurt by a lack of length but he’s a restless rusher who hunts blockers’ edges and will eventually leak through if the play extends. His athleticism and chase quickness will see him in or near the pile with some frequency as a future starter.”
“Shemar Turner is a former five-star prospect who has consistently increased his snap share in a deep and talented Texas A&M defensive line rotation. Turner has played every position along the defensive line from 0-tech to on the edge as a stand-up edge rusher. Turner’s production comes via what appears to be a unique combination of size, strength, and athleticism where he can serve the role of a movement piece to take advantage of certain matchups along the defensive line. Throughout his career, Turner has shown that he can line up as an EDGE and get sack production or play the IDL position and provide valuable reps as a run defender.
Against the run, Turner has multiple ways in which he can win and be a productive part of a defense. Lined up as an edge rusher, Turner has the functional strength to quickly set the edge and force any run back inside to the help of the defense. As an interior defensive lineman, Turner has a quick first step and is best when working upfield to get penetration and disrupt the play. Texas A&M uses slants and Turner does well using his athleticism to cross the face of the offensive lineman and quickly get into a gap. Because of Turner’s size and athleticism, he becomes a difficult block for offensive linemen when he attacks upfield getting penetration.
Rushing the quarterback, Turner is very multiple in his usage. Aligned on the edge, Turner can rush from a two or three-point stance. Turner has a quick first step upfield and can work strictly speed around the edge or he can convert speed to power and collapse the pocket to get to the quarterback. Turner uses his hands to counter an offensive lineman’s initial hand usage. Rushing as an interior defensive lineman appears to be Turner’s most athletically advantageous alignment. He has the quickness to beat interior often offensive linemen and become a disruptive pass rusher. Turner has the athleticism to quickly get upfield and get penetration, and he has hand counters along with counter moves to win. Turner’s change of direction and reactionary athleticism also show in how he quickly redirects and finds different ways to win.
Turner’s improvement as a player is simply working on the detailed elements of him both as a pass rusher and run defender. Because Turner is utilized in so many different ways and alignments, it appears that it reduces his ability to work on the details of his technique. In the run game, Turner can become more consistent in his technique as an IDL to consistently win. As a pass rusher, he can win based solely on his physical traits, but he can improve the percentage of his wins if he becomes more detailed in his pass-rush counters, developing true pass-rush plans and counters.
Overall, Turner is a physically gifted defensive lineman who can play multiple positions along the line, but he may benefit from focusing on one position to work on the details of that position and become more consistently dominant.”
“Turner was a four-star recruit in the 2021 class. He played in eight games as a true freshman at Texas A&M in 2021 before starting in his last three college seasons. He is listed at 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds but appears to be on the smaller side for an NFL defensive lineman, specifically in arm length. What Turner lacks in length he makes up for in hand usage and effort. His hands are active and fast to swipe and chop off the snap, helping him stay clean or fight through with counters to disengage. His consistent leverage allows him to hold the line of scrimmage well in run defense, and his active, strong hands give him the upper hand to stack and shed when the ball carrier arrives. He likes to use a swim/arm-over move to shoot gaps, but his arm length can stop him from winning cleanly. Turner can also struggle to hold his own against double teams, making it tough to say he will be truly versatile in the NFL despite his experience at 0-1-technique nose tackle.”
“Shemar Turner is a developmental prospect who could become a solid 3-technique defensive tackle in a penetrating, one-gap type of defense. He’s big, strong and athletic with some impressive traits.
However, Turner’s technique needs a lot of work. He plays with high pad level and is often late and wide when shooting his hands, exposing his chest and leading to inconsistencies against the run. That gets exposed the most against double teams and combo blocks as he’ll get pushed out of his gap when taking on two offensive linemen.
Additionally, those issues impact the effectiveness of his bull rush and restrict his pass-rush arsenal. He does have a couple of moves, like a swim or hump, that he can catch offensive linemen leaning with, but he’s often ineffective against linemen who have good technique, which will be an issue at the next level.
That being said, Turner has an impressive get-off that he can get penetration with and be disruptive when his hands and pad level are right. He’s a ball of clay, but a good defensive line coach could mold him into a quality NFL defensive tackle.”
“Texas A&M Aggies defensive tackle Shemar Turner projects as a starting defensive tackle at the NFL level. Turner boasts excellent punch power and upper-body strength, illustrating some ideal reps as a lock, peek & shed point of attack defender.
There are some consistency issues that need to be ironed out, but Turner looks and feels like an eventual starter. Turner has flashed some versatility but should be generally considered a B-gap defender in the NFL. There are baseline traits present to be a dangerous pass rusher, but he’s more proficient and ready to contribute on early downs to help control the point of attack against the run.”
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