Bears’ Shemar Turner Left Off Year 2 Under Pressure Rankings
Chicago Bears defensive lineman Shemar Turner didn't make an impact in his rookie season. Here is why he needs to perform in Year 2.
Video Transcript
What's going on everybody?
Nicholas Moriano here from Bears Roundtable Sports.
For today's video, we're talking about Bears' second-round draft pick, Shamar Turner.
Someone that was drafted with the 62nd overall pick, only played 74 total defensive snaps last season.
He had an injury going into training camp, actually on the first day of camp, injured his ankle.
That delayed his rookie debut until week three, and then he suffered a torn ACL injury in the loss against the Baltimore Ravens.
So 74 total defensive snaps.
That's all to show for Shamar Turner last season.
And Pro Football Focus came out with an article, the top 10 players with the most to prove going into year two.
Shamar Turner wasn't one of them, and I get it.
They had majority of the players selected were first-round draft picks, but Turner definitely has something to prove to the Bears this season because, one, he plays on a position group, the defensive line, that is arguably the weakest on the Bears right now.
It was a unit that struggled consistently throughout the 2025 season.
The Bears' defensive line is kind of just begging for people to show up.
Turner can potentially be an asset to defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, someone that for, for Turner can play on the edge, has the strength to play inside, the quickness to play inside, but also has versatility to go on the edge if needed.
But the first thing that Turner has to do is show that he can be healthy, available.
And if he can do that, well, then there's an opportunity for Turner to really showcase what he's capable of, because in his rookie season, there weren't many opportunities.
We didn't get to see that violence that he talked about on the first day of media availability when the Bears selected him.
A violent player, we didn't get a chance to really see that because injuries took that away from him.
If given this, this new opportunity this season, we need to see consistency, we need to see availability, but the Bears more than anything just need to see if he was worth a day two pick.
Right now, it's not looking, I would say, positive for Turner because he's missed so much time, but it's a new season.
If he comes back healthy, then there is an opportunity for Turner to kind of silence some of the doubters who are questioning whether or not he can be a good football player in the NFL.
But first things first, he needs to show that he can be healthy, and then he can show what he's capable of doing in the NFL.
