Bengals’ DJ Turner got call from Leon Hall, hopes to emulate his game

Bengals great Leon Hall gave second-rounder DJ Turner a call after the draft.

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There is a ton of hype around Cincinnati Bengals second-round pick DJ Turner, given his stunning testing numbers and overall fit with the team.

Adding to that hype is the well-established trend of the Bengals getting stellar defensive backs out of Michigan over the years.

The first to come to mind, of course, is modern Bengals great Leon Hall. And it’s Hall who just so happened to reach out to Turner personally after the Bengals picked him, as captured by Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com:

“He told me congrats and just let me know when you get in town. Stuff like that,” said Turner who has heard about Hall.

“I heard about his game,” said Turner, who also prides himself on playing both the slot and outside. “That’s how I heard about him. How he could do both.”

Turner joins former Wolverines teammate Dax Hill — the team’s first-rounder last year — as the new long-term leaders in the defensive backfield. It’s a group defined by its raw athleticism and versatility, giving defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo options the same way Mike Zimmer had options with Hall’s group all those years ago.

If the success is anywhere near the same level, Hill and Turner won’t take long to establish themselves as the latest Hall-styled standouts in Cincinnati.

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4 ex-Giants among first-year eligible candidates for Hall of Fame in 2024

4 former members of the New York Giants are among a group of first-year eligible candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2024.

Four former New York Giants players are on the list of potentials for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024.

Wide receiver Brandon Marshall, linebacker Connor Barwin, running back Jonathan Stewart and cornerback Leon Hall will all be eligible for the first time next year.

Marshall played just five games for the Giants in 2017 after inking a two-year, $12 million deal. He suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 5 and was released the next spring.

Barwin came to the Giants in 2018 after four-year stints in Houston and Philadelphia and a year with the Rams. He played 15 games for the Giants and retired in 2019.

Stewart was a controversial signing by the Giants in 2018 after 10 seasons in Carolina. He had little left in the tank when he got to New Jersey and ended up playing in three games for Big Blue.

Hall came to the Giants in 2016 after nine seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals. He played in 12 games and was not brought back in 2017.

Of this group, Marshall has the best shot at a place in Canton. He had six seasons where he had 100 or more receptions, tied with Antonio Brown for the most all-time.

Other first-time eligibles who have an actual chance at gaining election are defensive end Julius Peppers, tight end Antonio Gates and cornerback Eric Berry.

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Michigan football first-round NFL Draft picks since 2000

Looking back at the Wolverines first-round NFL Draft picks since 2000.

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While the greatest NFL player of all-time is indisputably Tom Brady, who has six Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots, he was famously a sixth-round NFL Draft pick in the 2000 NFL Draft.

But Michigan is No. 13 of college football institutions with 14 first-round NFL Draft picks since 2000, each with varying levels of success.

WolverinesWire takes a look at all 14 picks with a snippet on their careers in the NFL as well as Ann Arbor.

CLICK THROUGH TO THE GALLERY BELOW.

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Former Bengals CB Leon Hall finally getting more respect as new metrics emerge

New metrics smile on Leon Hall.

Remember Leon Hall?

The former Cincinnati Bengals cornerback was a first-round pick by the team in 2007 and played through the 2015 season there.

Hall always put up noteworthy tackle numbers and was one of the team’s better defenders against the run, never mind his prowess in pass coverage — he picked off 18 passes over his first four seasons alone. His play at the time made it clear we needed to better evaluate the impact of slot corners.

And that strive for evaluating inside corners continues today, with Pro Football Focus’ Kevin Cole releasing a new Plus/Minus metric to analyze the position.

Based on the findings there, Hall’s 2009 season ranks among the 20 best seasons of the PFF era.

In that 2009 season, Hall picked off six passes, had 23 passes defensed and posted 71 total tackles, so it isn’t hard to see why advanced numbers would smile on the effort.

If nothing else, it’s nice to see one of the more underrated, fan-favorite elements of that Bengals era get honored even more in hindsight.

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