A surprise high PFF rank for DB Press Coverage

Remarkable.  I know DJ has really emerged late in the season but this is next level material.  Hope he continues to live up to his lofty PFF grade.

His ascension during the 2nd half of the year has been awesome. We heard during the offseason that he was neck and neck with Gray and Green so it’s not necessarily the most shocking development, but it’s still nice to see a guy really take the bull by the horns when the opportunity presents itself.

You can say this for most of our DB play this year, but even the catches he does give up have been well covered. We haven’t seen many guys just getting flat out beat or completely losing a guy in a foot race down field. And after last year that’s nice.

Out of all of our true CBs though (not counting Dax,) Turner is the most likely to make a play on the ball and to top it off - he’s dangerous with the ball in his hands. It’s amazing how different the perception and performance of a particular unit can change in the span of a single year.

Turner’s growth this year has been remarkable and critical to the success of the defense. Something clicked for him.

The guy plays quick and instinctive now.  He is in the right place in zone, covers well in man, and closes fast in run support.

His ability is excellent and I’m thinking he is getting good coaching.

The coaching and development this year has been phenomenal across the board but no where more than at DB. And the DB room is about to get a major talent infusion to go along w the coaching. 

Looks like Coach Clink will be getting a title bump.

I absolutely  love Turner's development and it gets overlooked because of Aidan this year. Let's not forget about Gray though.that guy was beaten like a drum by opponents and our fanbase previously, but this year, he has been incredibly dependable.

The biggest position group surprise has been far and away the DB’s…and the most shocking out of that group is DJ Turner. The kid has emerged as a legit #1 CB on a very good defensive unit!

Lots of credit for the turn-around this year.  

- Harbaugh for not only recognizing how deeply the flaws in past defensive schemes ran, but for committing to a wholesale change (H/T to his brother, too).  No MSU-like shuffling of the deck chairs here

- Coach Nua for getting DTs tuned up, thus freeing up the DEs.  Coach Clinksdale deserves calling out for teaching a new system to what had to be a disheartened secondary after last year, but don't think the #1 PFF DL didn't help with the coverage

- Coach MacDonald for what has to be the most amazing job of stripping out Don Brown's system and installing a new, even more complex NFL defense.  That's some fancy talking there, Coach!

- DJ, Grey, Moten, Moore, and Hill for committing to the change and putting the time in.  Again, amazing transformation by putting these guys in a system that complements their skills.

And, not least of all, Aidan Hutchinson, our local God of War.  As they used to say about Reggie Jackson, Aidan is the straw that stirs the drink.  He's like a gravitational singularity out there, warping time and space for the benefit of all his teammates.

DB's and DT's were a very pleasant surprise and showed amazing improvement this year. 

I think the players hard work and coaching deserves a great deal of credit, but not to be overlooked is the scheme.

The fact that we are running multiple defensive looks in attempts to confuse opponents or at least be unpredictable in our approach has been huge. MacDonald brought a sophistication and flexibility that Don Brown was too stubborn or incapable of implementing.  

OSU's receivers were incredible in our game with them, making some remarkable circus catches and all 3 (Wilson, Ninja, Olave) are NFL ready.  However, it was great to see MacDonald's defense make them earn every yard and point in that game, including a few difficult 4th down conversions to stay in the game. Our corners and safeties were always there to make the play or immediate tackle after the catch.

There was nothing wide open like simple mesh routes or slants like in years past under Don Brown. The plays OSU made against our secondary were well earned and sometimes you just tip your cap and say great throw, even better catch, on to the next play.

i was incredibly impressed with moore, turner, and the whole 2ndary in the latter half of the season, particularly against osu and iowa. when we played iowa, you could see from the first drive, even though they moved it a bit that they were going to have very little luck on offense. we shut down that naked bootleg and they were finished. but it was pretty awesome seeing our young dbs play with such confidence and enough physicality to be disruptive (against osu) without a lot of PI calls.