DJ Turner II Just Proved Everyone Wrong in a Big Way...

DJ Turner II just proved everyone wrong, making a statement that determines what his decision is going to be for this year, and a hidden gem signing the Bengals just made in their cornerback room. So we got a lot of cornerback talk today, we're going to be diving into all of it so be sure to stick around until the very end. With all that being said, I'm your host Adam Mignogni, thank you so much for joining us here today on Bengals Digest. We really appreciate you guys coming in and joining us here today as we prep you for the beginning of the season. Less than two weeks away from week one versus the Bucks, and so if you're part of the family we really appreciate it. All of your guys' support here on Bengals Digest, me and Michael have been working hard this offseason to get you prepared for this very moment coming up in less than two weeks. So if you're part of that 70% who watch and are not yet subscribed, it's completely free to do so. So go ahead and join us, follow us along this season as we continue to provide you with more and more updates, counting ones just like this one. As we dive into the most underrated addition to the Bengals practice squad and what that means for the cornerback room heading forward. So like I said, we got a lot of cornerback room talk that we're going to be getting into today. Starting off with someone I mentioned a couple days ago in the signings for the practice squad and the biggest one, I mentioned it a little bit there, but we're going to dive a little bit deeper is Traquasi Bridges from Dallas. Now this is a guy that he's very interesting, got an interesting build. He had, he was an undrafted free agent for the Chargers for a little bit before Dallas got him. And let's face it, in the circumstances that he had in the worst defense in the league last year for the Dallas Cowboys, I mean, he was under Matt Ibrafluous' regime last year in Dallas and he honestly, he did what he could. There was one game he was even targeted 13 times in one game and he did end up letting up seven touchdowns or seven touchdowns, seven completions and two touchdowns. But he did manage to get an interception, being targeted 13 times, definitely not a good look, but he, he made a statement in, in some of those plays that he made. So again, his stats are going to be nothing to wow you and, you know, make you think that he's super impressive. This is, you look at his stats, this is a practice squad guy. But he had a couple of starts last year for Dallas and he played in 248 snaps in just a brutal situation on last year's defense for Dallas. He gave up more points than anybody else in the National Football League. So, you know, not as much pressure going to be on him here in Cincinnati. And I definitely think the way the cornerback room is kind of looking, it's set up for a very big future and that's beyond this year. And I'll be honest, this year I'm looking very forward to, like, I haven't felt this confident about the Bengals since the year that they went to the Super Bowl. And that is exactly why I am selecting them as my Super Bowl champions on Cali. As you can see right now on Cali, the market looks like the Rams are one are the most favored to win it all this year, be the NFL champions of 2027, the 2026 season. But in 2027 is when the Super Bowl takes place and the Rams favorite, then you see followed up by the Bills and the Seahawks. But I personally am putting $25 on the Bengals to be your National Football League champions this season. Put $25 in, you get $468.80 return. So definitely get in on this action now with Cali. I very strongly recommend it. And the best part about Cali is that you're trading directly against other users, not just like the house, like traditional sports books typically do. You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcome of events, you know, across sports. 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I mean, you see guys like Dax Hill and D.J. Turner, you know, they're very different body types than a guy like Takario Davis, who they drafted this season. And I mean, he is about six foot four, very long limbs. That was the thing that everybody talked about in the draft. And he's played well in training camp. He's played well in the preseason. So it seems like the Bengals are kind of maybe trending towards this kind of build. So, I mean, Bridges is listed currently at six foot two, 200 pounds, so lighter guy. But the standout thing for him is he has a six foot nine wingspan. So like long, like pterodactyl limbs we're talking about here and very similar to Takario Davis in that sense. So, you know, easier to recover on those plays that you're beaten a little bit more. And he also ran a four, four, five, 40. So we'll talk about it here. Matt Fitzgerald says it. Like I said, pterodactyl arms, that's where I pulled it from is Matt Fitzgerald, not my own words, but he can, you know, he can recover on those plays and he ran a 4.4540 coming out of Florida, impressive 1.51 second, 10 yards split. So great explosiveness, great length there for Traquasi Bridges, tough name to get used to if he is in the locker room, but hey, I'm all right with it if he makes a big impact. And I mean, look, I understand this is a practice squad guy. I understand that it's a practice squad signing. It's not going to turn a lot of heads initially, but you know, who also was a practice squad guy who recently, very recently made the starting roster in this cornerback room is Jalen Davis. And I think that's something you got to consider when you're talking about the way that this cornerback room is shifting. The cornerback room looks very good right now. And you got, you have guys like DJ Ivy and Josh Newton who are both pending free agents. Ivy did make the 53 man Newton will hit the open market next off season. And so, you know, it's been an interesting look at the Nickelback room specifically. And Jalen Davis worked his way up with some, you know, taking advantage of the opportunities that he was given. And I think that they're putting Traquasi Bridges in that same, you know, in that same field house that Jalen Davis kind of did the path that he took. And so who's to say that even beyond this year, this cornerback room doesn't shift dramatically with all these contracts expiring. I mean, we know the news about DJ Turner. That's that's been like a storyline for us. I mean, who knows what it's going to look like beyond twenty twenty six. The longer the front office drags their feet on paying Turner, according to Matt Fitzgerald, on his big extension, the better he'll plays and more difficult it will be to keep both of them around for the long haul. So that leads us into the next point that I wanted to talk about, which is talking about D.J. Turner's contract updates. Now, I know Michael kind of talked about it yesterday, but we have some new news lines following that where he actually speaks out. So we're talking D.J. Turner. Obviously, I think he's got to get extended, but the way it's looking right now, he might be playing on a tag or he might have to get a tag next season. So Michael brought this up yesterday. Turner is an underrated cover man out of the AFC North, but this deal has virtually no chance to get done before week one, barring a massive and unexpected uptick. It isn't close and Turner is poised to play out his rookie deal. So Michael covered that yesterday. Not going to go into that for too much detail, but the new establishing story is coming from Mike Petriglia talking about D.J. Turner on Jay Fowler ESPN's report, barring an unexpected breakthrough. Bengals expected to let him play out his contract. He said, my mindset is going to be the same regardless if I'm the highest paid or I don't have a contract. It don't really matter. He's going to be playing this out and we're talking big contract. I mean, this is what Spotrak has him at his expected market value. Twenty one point one million would be a hefty deal. It would be a very hefty deal, and we're looking at the way that the cornerback room looks right now, who knows how it's going to shape out this season, what Al Golden does with that defense, who gets the most reps. D.J. Turner is going to be a starter alongside Dax Hill and the contract negotiations are not moving for the time being. Now, I mean, maybe they're just going to let him play out this season. It's a frustrating thing to witness, to be in this situation, you know, get ahead of the curve. Same thing with Chase Brown. He wasn't extended. It's one of those situations where, like, are you just wanting to see him play out for this year before, like, giving up entirely on it? I mean, D.J. Turner's played really well through his contract and, you know, rookie deal expiring, but we'll have to wait and see where that one goes. But a lot of cornerback talk today. So thank you for sticking around till the very end. If you did stick around till this far, be sure to comment a real one down below. I like just seeing which one stuck around to the very end. So we really appreciate it, guys. And with all that being said, you have a great rest of your day. Thank you for joining us on Bengals Digest.