PITTSBURGH — As David DeCastro's ankle problems were taking a turn for the worse this offseason, Trai Turner's health was trending in the right direction.
At least that's how Turner sees it, and the 6-foot-3, 315-pound right guard from New Orleans figures to step right into a starting role for his new team. Turner, who turned 28 this month, has dealt with injury issues of his own lately but believes that after making the Pro Bowl five consecutive years from 2015-19, he still has plenty to offer the Steelers as DeCastro's replacement.
"I'm feeling good. I'm just ready to come back and have a phenomenal season," Turner told SiriusXM NFL Radio in an interview last weekend.
Turner, who signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Steelers on Friday, admits that 2020 was something of a lost year for him. Many Chargers fans believed they got a steal when they traded starting tackle Russell Okung straight-up for Turner last offseason. After all, Turner was a starter for all of his six seasons in Carolina, the team that drafted him in the third round out of LSU in 2014.
But once he got to Los Angeles, Turner couldn't stay on the field — and the Chargers couldn't protect their quarterback. Turner, who missed nine games over the previous three seasons with the Panthers, was sidelined for seven of his first eight games with the Chargers. He also missed parts of four games in the final eight.
The Chargers averaged just 3.8 yards per carry, third-worst in the NFL and not much better than the Steelers' league-low 3.6 mark. They finished 17th with 34 sacks allowed, but 20 of those came in the second half of the season. The Chargers released Turner after just one season out west, saving $11.5 million in salary cap space. They also reportedly tried to trade him first, which would've been the second time in two years he was dealt.
"Somewhat of a surprise" is how Turner described it in March 2020 when he was traded by the Panthers, who signed him to a four-year, $45 million deal ahead of the 2017 season.
Indeed, there's a reason Turner got that big payday four years ago. He's a wide body known for playing nasty, exactly the type of mentality the Steelers are preaching under Adrian Klemm, the new head offensive line coach.
But Turner, whose seventh season in the league was initially slowed by a groin injury then further disrupted by head and chest injuries, must return to the player he was when healthy. For what it's worth, Pro Football Focus gave him a 34.8 grade for his play in 2020, second-to-last among 80 guards evaluated. DeCastro, as a reference point, rated as a 64.1 last season.
If you want to get further into the weeds on advanced stats for offensive linemen, Turner ranked last among 70 guards who qualified in ESPN's "pass block win rate" metric. Coincidentally, Turner's replacement with the Chargers figures to be Matt Feiler, who started at left guard last season for the Steelers.
Time will tell if Turner's natural athleticism — he ran a position-best 4.84 40-yard dash at the NFL combine coming out of college — will resurface and make him a dominant guard again, or if he'll continue to struggle in his eighth season. The Steelers don't have much behind him, unless you're high on Rashaad Coward — who actually started and finished more games (5) than Turner (4) last year, at left guard/right tackle for the Bears — or B.J. Finney, who admittedly reported to camp with the Seahawks last year out of shape and never played an offensive snap.
Ben Roethlisberger once knew precisely what he was getting from the five guys in front of him, year in and year out. Now, all we can do is speculate on how this unit will come together.
"I want to put myself in the best situation possible to go out and win," Turner said on SiriusXM before officially agreeing to join the Steelers. "I think that's everybody's goal, to go out there and win, and just play some good ball. I'm a firm believer, from my own experiences, I know what happens when you play good ball."
