Posted December 26, 2025 — Cincinnati, Ohio

What happens when one of the NFL’s most statistically dominant defenders gets told he wasn’t good enough for the Pro Bowl?
Some sulk. Some complain. Some fire off cryptic tweets.

DJ Turner II? He grabbed the moment by the throat, stared at it, and turned it into fuel.

The Cincinnati Bengals cornerback—listed only as a third alternate for the 2026 Pro Bowl Games—didn’t rage at the decision. He did something far more dangerous:

He stayed calm, looked directly at the cameras, and declared war on the doubt.

“They can’t take away my film. My film is my film whether I make the Pro Bowl or not.”

No theatrics. No excuses. Just truth, delivered like a closing argument.

And that, according to everyone inside Paycor Stadium, is exactly what the Bengals needed to hear.

Joe Burrow Steps In: “I Thought DJ Should Have Made the Pro Bowl.”

Turner may have been snubbed from the roster—but he was not snubbed by his own locker room.

Franchise quarterback Joe Burrow publicly backed his corner, reinforcing that Turner’s breakout season deserved far more than an alternate tag.

Speaking Wednesday, Burrow acknowledged Turner’s talent, but also delivered a piece of league wisdom he knows all too well:

“Usually the first year that you should make it, you’re typically an alternate. If you stack that year, they give it to you the next year. It happened to me.”

It wasn’t consolation. It was prophecy.

Burrow was once the guy standing outside the velvet rope too—before kicking the door down the following season.

And Turner plans to do the same.

From Uncertain Starter to NFL’s Most Unignorable Cornerback

Turner’s journey this year wasn’t linear. It wasn’t polished. It was gritty, messy, competitive, and earned inch by inch.

The 22-year-old former second-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft spent his first two seasons toggling between flashes of brilliance and rookie volatility. The talent was obvious—but consistency? That had to be forged.

This offseason, Cincinnati’s coaching staff made it clear: nothing would be handed to him.

Turner entered training camp in a full-blown position battle for the starting CB role. And technically?

He lost it.

He didn’t start Week 1.

But losing a battle is not the same as losing your place in the war.

Turner responded by outworking the narrative. Outplaying the competition. And eventually forcing the depth chart to correct itself.

By midseason, he wasn’t just starting.

He was locking receivers down like a man who had found the cheat codes.

The Stats That Made His Snub Controversial

Turner didn’t just build a case for the Pro Bowl.

He built a dossier.

• Leads the NFL in passes defensed

• Allows under 50% of targets to be completed in his coverage

• Holds opposing quarterbacks to some of the lowest efficiency metrics in the league

• Locks down WR1s in a division stacked with elite receiver talent

• Turned the Bengals’ secondary into a legitimate defensive weapon

Those numbers alone should have earned a roster spot.

But Turner also did it in the most unforgiving context imaginable.

The AFC North: No Easy Routes, No Free Highlights

Unlike other divisions where standout defensive performances can be padded against weaker offenses, Turner has spent the season in the NFL’s toughest division—facing elite quarterbacks and receivers on a weekly rotation.

Lamar Jackson. Deshaun Watson. Kenny Pickett. And of course, the AFC’s best receiving corps across Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland.

There are no gimmies in the North.

Turner produced anyway.

He didn’t just cover receivers.

He erased them from relevance for entire possessions.

And Cincinnati’s defense, which had been historically bad through the first 12 weeks, needed exactly that kind of reliability.

Bengals Defense Transformation: Turner as a Core Catalyst

Let’s not sugarcoat it—this was a defense that looked broken through 12 weeks.

Cincinnati ranked:

• 32nd in EPA/play allowed

• 32nd in success rate allowed

• Dead last in defensive efficiency metrics that matter most

Then came the shift.

Over the last four weeks of the season, the Bengals defense has played like a top-14 unit in both EPA/play and success rate allowed.

The reason?

A mix of coaching adjustments, young players leveling up, and a cornerback who suddenly started playing like he was possessed by the spirit of Revis Island.

Turner became the constant while everything else fluctuated.

When the Bengals needed a stop, he delivered it.

When the defense needed identity, he provided it.

When receivers needed separation?

He said no.

Turner’s Reaction: The Most Important Quote of the Season

Turner could have gone public with frustration.

Instead, he went public with intent.

“I’m going at it regardless.”

No resentment. Just resolve.

In a league where confidence can sometimes sound like delusion, Turner’s confidence sounds like self-awareness backed by evidence.

He knows he belongs. And he knows others know it too.

He just wants the league to catch up.

Why This Matters More Than an Award

The Pro Bowl is a milestone. Not the mission.

What the Bengals truly needed to learn in 2025 was this:

Do they have their long-term cornerback? The guy who can stabilize the defense the way Burrow stabilizes the offense?

Based on everything this season has shown:

Yes.
Probably.
Almost definitely.

Turner has passed every test except the one the league will hand him next:

Stack it again. Make them unable to ignore you twice.

And if Burrow is right?

We already know the ending.

The 2026 Forecast Is Already Written in Attitude

Turner doesn’t need next year to prove the Bengals right.

He already proved them right by reacting exactly how the franchise wants its stars to react:

• Competitive, not fragile

• Confident, not chaotic

• Motivated, not bitter

• Defined by film, not validation

Cincinnati didn’t just hear the quote.

They heard the tone.

The Bengals may not have gotten a Pro Bowl cornerback this year.

But the league may have just created one for them for 2026.

And that might be the most Bengals thing to ever happen.