Miami Dolphins Preview: Billy Turner

As the offensive line continues to remain an issue for the Miami Dolphins, Miami continues to invest in it in the hopes they can finally find the right mix of five guys up front who can keep their quarterback off his backside. In 2014, that investment continued to take place with the addition of Billy Turner in the third round. A left tackle in the FBS ranks in college, Turner embarked on a rookie season that was a major learning experience for him. Playing in a total of 17 snaps all season for the Dolphins offensive line, most of Turner’s learning came in the class room as opposed to on the field. This off-season he comes in as the incumbent at right guard; will he prove the coaches trust in his development right? Or will this small school second year player need another year of development to get used to the NFL level?

2014 Review

2014 was basically a wash for Turner when it came to getting playing experience. Turner hurt is toe in training camp and took a while to battle back from it; by the time he made it back to the practice field, the coaches had settled on their starting lineup and reserve roles. Before the injury, Turner was showing better in the run game as a blocker than Dallas Thomas, whom he was directly competing with. As a whole, the young lineman from North Dakota State showed he was a better run blocker than pass blocker overall, leaving pass pro as an area of his game that really needs refining. I’m sure getting accustomed to the speed of the game inside at guard as opposed to his college position of tackle played a role in the slow transition; just as not seeing elite talent every Saturday in the FBS didn’t help him either as even the scrubs in the NFL are better than most players in the FBS. At the end of the 2014, there were obviously a few things that Turner would certainly need to improve at in order to become more of a contributor, but Turner definitely did show in practice that he has the talent and skill set to succeed in the NFL.

2015 Preview

Even with the lack of playing time last season, Turner showed the coaches enough on the scout team to think they have a real talent worth developing in Turner; hence the release of guard Shelley Smith and the penciling in of Turner as the starter at right guard. While the Dolphins are giving Turner every chance they can to succeed and seize hold of the starting position, nothing is set in stone. The Dolphins brought in veteran lineman Jeff Linkenbach, who has started 36 games in his 5 year career, to compete with Turner; and his starting experience shouldn’t be ignored by the second year player.

For all intensive purposes though, Turner’s biggest challenge for the Miami Dolphins starting right guard position is himself. Viewed as the future of the position, Turner just needs to continue to grow everyday to warrant continued faith from Miami’s coaching staff. Last year as a rookie, a few things stood out to me about Turner and one of them was that while he’s a big human being, it didn’t look like he possessed an NFL ready body. He was soft and pudgy during training camp last year and it probably contributed to his struggles in pass protection, but so far in this year’s OTA’s and mini camp, Turner looks to have reshaped his body in the weight room for the better.

In a recent interview with Greg Likens on The Finsiders, Turner credited his successful off-season to staying in town to workout at the Miami Dolphins facility and taking up boxing in his spare time to help him with his conditioning and hand punch. From early glimpses of him working on the field, you can tell Turner has a different look to him physically. This growth should only help him deal with the rigors of the trenches and make him stronger in the run game. Keeping his balance and improving his pass blocking technique will be the two areas that will be evaluated during the course of the off-season and will likely determine whether he’s the long term fix at the right guard position. In my eyes, Turner has Pro-Bowl type potential, but it’ll be up to him whether he realizes that potential sooner rather than later.

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