It’s no secret that the Cincinnati Bengals’ defense was a trainwreck for most of the 2024 season, and changes needed to be made.

A big part of getting improved play from that unit in 2025 could be the rise of third-year cornerback DJ Turner, who says that he is 100% as Organized Team Activities start for the team at Paycor Stadium.

“Oh yeah, I’m 100 percent,” Turner told KPRC 2, the NBC affiliate in Houston. “I’m ready to go.”

We’ve now got some highlights of Turner in action at Bengals OTAs.

DJ Turner is back. Ready.

Via @bengals 🎥 pic.twitter.com/9tAhYgrXuz

— Wincy (@WincinnatiPod) April 22, 2025

Turner made strides in his second season with the Bengals in 2024. He defended eight passes last season, a season after he defended seven passes and had 50 combined tackles in 2023.

A second-round pick out of Michigan in 2023, Turner has started 18 of 28 games he has played through his first two seasons. However, he suffered a season-ending clavicle injury midway through the 2024 season after he really appeared to be growing into a solid starter.

As the Bengals seemingly move on from Mike Hilton, Turner will be a key player in the Bengals’ secondary as they continue to transition to a younger group.

Out of 127 qualifying Cornerbacks in 2024, DJ Turner ranked…

– 40st in Coverage Grade from PFF (68.4)

– 5th in Forced Incompletion percentage (21%)

– 10th in Pass Rating when targeted (74.0)

– 29th in Snaps per Target (7.8)

– 16th in Snaps per Reception Allowed (14.4)

-… pic.twitter.com/3jGjUCIJHK

— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) April 9, 2025