Aux arms! [Photo: Christopher Nee/247 Sports]

As expected for over a month now, D.J. Turner (not the Maryland receiver) committed to Michigan in an announcement planned long before half of his generation decided to do the same. Now it's public!

110% COMMITTED〽️〽️ pic.twitter.com/w0VyU5mGCV

— DJ Turner II (@djturner_2019) June 25, 2018

He's a long-armed, heady, versatile 3.5-star sort whom Michigan identified as a top target—he was one of the first 2019 cornerbacks Michigan offered, according to Steve Lorenz, and Chris Partridge stayed on the Georgia prospect the whole way.

GURU RATINGS

247	ESPN	Rivals	Composite
3*, 88, #41 CB, #49 GA, #450 Ovr	4*, 80, #23 CB, #154 Southeast, #37 GA	3*, 5.7, #52 CB, #47 GA	3*, .8817, #41 CB, #47 GA, #439 Ovr

Turner was a 4-star for most of the process until 247 dropped him from #280 to the mid-400s; their ranking is now almost exactly in line with the Composite, with ESPN the only site still clinging to the post 2016 season impression. That came after a move to free safety in a loaded secondary (he's one of three DB recruits from his school ranked as high three-stars), even though that move led quite directly to North Gwinnett's first-ever state championship.

Turner is listed anywhere from 5-10 to 6-0, and 165 to 180, with an "official" (i.e. what he wrote down himself) measurement from The Opening of 6-0/165 as of March. We'll split the difference and call him 5-11/165 though as you can see with the favored photo he's got arms for days, a point that gets brought up often in scouting reports. Also brought up in scouting reports: Versatility!

[Hit THE JUMP for scouting, video, and more.]

SCOUTING

Apparently nobody watches football anymore to scout players—I opened over 100 tabs on Turner produced by the recruiting industry and every one of them was about him going on visits, or thinking about going on visits, or putting out a tweet about which visits he went on. Apparently nobody in this industry watches the gorram 7A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE STATE OF GORRAM GEORGIA these days.

Florida's 247 reporter was the best at getting Turner to talk about more than "Visit went good," and this bit from Turner himself about how UF was going to use him is both vague and a distillation of every other scouting report on him.

“They like that I have strength playing press man coverage and they think I can move around on the backfield whether it’s corner, nickel, or safety. They really like that I can do that and think I’d be a fit in their defense.

One-hundred and twenty-five recruiting articles to get "Can move around the backfield," and "Has strength playing press man coverage." Virtually everything else says "Turner is a versatile defensive back who can play all over the secondary."

Fortunately local outfit RecruitGeorgia has started to fill in the massive gap the recruiting industry leaves by chasing low-effort "Whereya leaning?" stories that interest more than one fanbase and don't require football watching or football knowledge. That site thinks Turner's more Tyree Kinnel than cornerback:

He played free safety primarily this year, and though he doesn’t have great size, he was a major factor for their run to the state title. The 2019 recruit had 78 tackles, 50 solo and 28 assist which ranked him 2nd on the team. His 8 tackles for loss are especially impressive for a safety, and says a lot about his instincts to read the play and react, which is his best skill. Turner has a really high IQ and always finds himself in the right spot.

Chad Simmons dropped an eval in late 2016 when Turner picked up a bunch of his offers and shot up to 4-star status:

Turner II has good length, he has a nose for the ball and he has shown versatility.  He lined up at cornerback, nickel and safety during the sophomore season, making plays at all three positions.  He does a great job of playing with his eyes and playing under control.  His ball skills are a strength and even though he is a little light, he will come up and strike the opponent.

And the AJC now prints stuff from DawgNation's Jeff Sentell, so we got a coach eval when the UGA offer came in:

Turner is considered the football savant along the North Gwinnett secondary. He has the highest football I.Q. Even his highly competitive running mates in the Bulldog secondary grant him that.
…
“He’s probably one of the most explosive kids I have been around,” [Head Coach Bill] Stewart said. “Great cover skills. Even in that state championship game the competitive part of him really came out. We had him on their best slot guy and DJ had a couple of big plays in that game.”

The 2016 ESPN evaluation($) adds some athletic notes:

Lean and long. Instinctive and quick with good long field speed. Fluid and sudden with his feet and hips. Good change of direction, explosive short area burst. Uses length and hands well.

They also repeat the versatility thing, and under Areas of Improvement make him sound very Tyree indeed:

Takes risks, but makes plays.

Also Let's Go Mom!

"My decision has to be more about football," he said. "My mom is a counselor, and she’s big on education. My dad and I will break down the football part of it, like the type of defense they run and the relationship with the staff."

OFFERS

Clemson, Bama, Florida, Auburn, Georgia, Oklahoma, LSU, Cal…everybody offered, though for some time Michigan was the team to beat after Clemson—which he had been visiting since 7th grade—dropped out. FSU and Clemson got visits last winter and UF and Notre Dame got cursory visits after all the Crystal Balls had flipped to the M. The Auburn one was clearly serious—multiple Auburn sites had him listed as a top target for them. Nearby Georgia or Georgia Tech were never in consideration, though UGA jumped in late. That article also notes that Turner's cousin Travis Stroud played at UGA with Kirby Smart—he clearly wasn't a priority for the Bulldogs.

HIGH SCHOOL

After about half a century of getting pushed around by other high schools in the area, North Gwinnett won the school's first state title last year as part of the new 7A classification created prior to the 2016 season. NGHS is in Suwanee, GA, on the northeastern edge of the Atlanta metro region and about an hour from the University of Georgia, though weirdly they haven't sent many players down the road. NFL alumni include C.J. Uzomah (Auburn), Austin Shepherd (Alabama), Ja'Wuan James (Tennessee), and Jared Cook (South Carolina). Teammate and fellow secondary prospects Warren Burrell (a cornerback expected to go to Tennessee) and Quinton Newsome (the strong safety) are ranked around the same spot.

STATS

He had 78 tackles (50 solo) and two interceptions for North Gwinnett last year.

FAKE 40 TIME

Turner attended The Opening Regionals this year and recorded a 4.63 forty, a 4.34 shuttle, and a 34.9-inch vertical. I give it two FAKES out of five because there's no such thing as a real forty time.

VIDEO

NGHS won the 7A championship so we have lots of video against decent Georgia. Hudl:

Hudl also has sophomore highlights where he lines up at cornerback a lot if you want to see that.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Versatile, can play strong man coverage, smart. Gwinnett had him play mostly free safety in their Quarters defense last year, and watching it reinforced the Don Brown-itude of the guy. He doesn't appear to have crazy speed but his instincts and athleticism would work at several positions in the Michigan secondary. Tyree Kinnel is a very close comparison for headiness, leadership, size, and playing style. If he's a free safety, that is.

Depending on how things shake out with the 2018 recruits Turner could end up at cornerback, which will need some bodies since the NFL is bound to snap up Hill, Long, and Thomas by the time Turner has his sea legs, or like Kinnel and JKP, at free safety. Guessing Michigan will try him first at cornerback since it's the position it's easier to play at early, and Don Brown likes all of his defensive backs to be able to cover man-to-man. The competition at corner is all long-limbed and athletic, which means there's a path to playing time at nickel as early as 2019 and certainly in 2020, when Turner will have a year on Andre Seldon and anything else Michigan recruits.

If he's a safety, Kinnel graduates after this season so there will be an open starting job with a massive pool of candidates for it, led—we think—by Jaylen Kelly-Powell. For Turner that probably means he can redshirt while getting comfortable with all of the fun things Don Brown likes to do with his safety/nickels. After that, any of the long and lean types from 2018 could be battling for a two-deep spot. Since I don't get to do recruiting evals very often I'll use this opportunity to shout that intelligence matters at safety more than anything else, and that's a feather in Turner's cap when.

ETC

Visited Penn State for the Michigan game last year. Chris Partridge on Michigan's Georgia pipeline:

(Tyrone) Wheatley would beg me to come down and recruit Georgia with him because he had a feel for how talented the state is from top to bottom.He took me around and my mind was blown. I tried to take the bull by the horns there and make something happen.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Michigan can now afford to get picky with their secondary recruiting with so many 2018 and 2020 prospects, and a guy who could easily be moved to cornerback and a pure Viper signed on for 2019. Better keep refreshing because this seems to be changing by the minute this week: