What TE Cole Turner brings to the Washington Commanders
Taking a closer look at the skill set of the Commanders new tight end.
With the second of their two fifth-round picks, the Washington Commanders selected tight end Cole Turner out of Nevada. At the combine, Turner measured in at 6-foot-6, 246 pounds, which is obviously a huge frame. That frame is a large part of what makes Turner such an appealing prospect. He’s a receiving tight end with a huge catch radius and the ability to go up and get passes over the top of defenders.
Winning jump balls can be an overvalued trait at times, especially in the NFL where defenders are better equipped to match receivers vertically and are able to contest the catch point. But with Turner’s size it’s still a valuable trait and one that can come up clutch in key situations.
This clip shows two plays that happened back-to-back during a two minute drill. On both plays, Turner aligns as the outside receiver to the right of the formation and is tasked with running fade routes down the sideline. On the first play, the quarterback scans the field and doesn’t really like any of his options, so he flips his hips to his right and lofts the ball up to Turner. Turner shows off the full extent of his reach, going up to snag the pass where no defender is likely to ever reach. On the very next play, Turner does the same thing, but this time when he looks back to the quarterback, he spots him scrambling to his right. Turner peels off his route to offer the quarterback an option. The defender stays close to him, but Turner uses his size to box out the defender and make the catch before stepping out of bounds.
Having that pressure relief valve is a huge asset for any quarterback in clutch situations. Knowing that if the designed play doesn’t work, they always have that back up option of throwing it up to Turner and letting him jump over a defender to make the play is a big positive for Turner as a prospect. It makes him a threat in two-minute drills, short yardage situations and of course in the red zone. Turner was a near lethal threat on the goal line.
This clip shows a variety of different goal line fades, all of which were caught for touchdowns. The first play he faces an off-coverage corner and the ball is thrown with height to the back corner of the end zone, where Turner sticks out one hand to bring in the catch. On the second play, Turner faces a physical corner playing press, but that’s no issue for him as the quarterback just throws to the back shoulder and Turner makes a great adjustment to pull in the pass late. On the third play, the defense attempts to get a safety across to help double Turner, though he doesn’t really get there in time. This time the throw is to the middle of the end zone and Turner is again able to go up and get it.
He became such a threat on goal line fades that he almost forced teams to double him with a safety.
On this play, Turner runs another goal line fade. The defense plays with two safeties in the alley between the receivers on the outside and the offensive line inside. However, when the ball is snapped, the safety away from Turner joins the run fit while the safety on Turner’s side sprints over to ensure he’s doubled. This might not appear to be a huge deal on the surface, but to have one guy demand a double team on the outside down near the goal line gives the offense an advantage running the ball. Unfortunately Nevada can’t take advantage on this play, but Turner’s threat is clear to see.
Turner’s size and catch radius are obviously a big part of his game and there’s no reason Washington couldn’t make use of those traits in his rookie season. There’s multiple ways to make use of those traits, not just goal line fades.
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