All season, Cincinnati Bengals cornerback DJ Turner has been following the No. 1 receiver on the opposing team. Turner has been targeted eight total times in those matchups across five games this season (other Bengals’ cornerbacks have been targeted that many times in single games this season).
It’d be easy for Turner to get bored out there.
“That’s a tough thing,” Turner said. “You have to be so consistent. Right now, I’m getting two plays a game. I don’t know when they’re going to come. You have to stay locked in. But since I’m going against the No. 1’s, I know that at least I’ve got a shot on any play.”
Because of his focus and attention to detail in coverage on a snap-to-snap basis, he has been shutting these receivers down.
\-In Week 1, Turner allowed two catches for 28 yards (one catch in zone coverage) when matched up against Emeka Egbuka.
\-Week 2 was a one-off as the Bengals did things differently against a Texans’ offense that was injury-riddled at receiver and didn’t have a standout wide receiver. Houston scored 6 points in the game.
\-In Week 3, Turner allowed two catches for 20 yards against DK Metcalf
\-In Week 4, he didn’t allow a single catch to Parker Washington
\-In Week 5, facing rookie Chris Bell, Turner didn’t allow a catch and was only targeted on one throwaway out of bounds.
“Every time we align him on their best receiver, their best receiver doesn’t have a good game,” cornerbacks coach Charles Burks said. “I can stop there.”
What more could you say about a No. 1 cornerback? Going back to last season, standout receivers have had bad days against Turner.
“That’s his role,” Burks said. “One of the challenges I always have with him is two things make an elite corner. You take the ball away. And whenever they have their best on the field, you should be over there. That’s what elite corners do.”
The only aspect missing from his 2026 season are those takeaways. He had good coverage on reps against the Steelers and Dolphins but just missed making the catch for interceptions. The Steelers one in particular came at a clutch moment in the game.
“He said to me a bunch of times about that, if he could have made that one…,” defensive coordinator Al Golden said.
If Turner keeps up what he’s doing in coverage and adds on a couple of interceptions this year, then he’ll be looking at a potential All-Pro season.
“The biggest part of being a cover corner is denying your man,” Golden said. “He does a really good job of denying the go-to guy. These are tough assignments. These are great challenges each week. He has been up to it.”
In 2025, Turner earned a spot in the Bengals’ starting lineup and established himself as a standout corner. He was hungry for the next step, the shot to cover No. 1 receivers every week and follow them all over the field. With his play, he earned that role over the course of last season.
“It’s what I’ve always wanted to do,” Turner said. “It’s what I’ve dreamed of. Just being a starting corner wasn’t ok for me. This is what I wanted to do, so I kept on at it. Now that I’ve got that role, I’ve got to do it.”
In 2025, Turner proved himself with the way that he shut down Metcalf, Rome Odunze, Stefon Diggs, Zay Flowers, Khalil Shakir, Jaylen Waddle and Michael Wilson.
Over the last two years, Turner has defended a wide variety of styles of wide receivers.
“I’ll go against DK, who’s 6-foot-4, 230 (pounds), and now I go against Zay Flowers who’s 5-foot-9 and 170 (pounds),” Turner said. “There are different keys based on who your matchup is.”
Up next is a rematch with Flowers, who ranks fifth in the NFL in receiving yards per game (94.2) this season.
“He’s Zay,” Turner said. “He has been Zay. I’m not surprised by everything he’s doing. His ability to move, that’s what he can do.”
In two games against the Ravens last season, Turner only allowed one reception for 14 yards in his one-on-one matchups against Flowers.
This season, Flowers has elevated his game. New Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle has done a terrific job of creating more space for Flowers to make plays. The most telling stats are that Flowers has the third-most receiving yards per game in the league on deep passes — he’s a major explosive play threat on vertical routes down the field — and he also has the second-most receiving yards in the league on short passes — he’s terrific at generating yards after the catch, and he can make a big play happen just by getting him the ball at the line of scrimmage.
Whether it’s been Lamar Jackson or Tyler Huntley at quarterback, Doyle has been dialing up plays that get Flowers the ball.
“(Flowers) is dynamic,” Al Golden said. “They’re getting him the ball in space. They’re very creative with how they’re doing it. His run after catch is excellent. His ability to stop and start is among the elite. We really have to do a great job of tackling him in space. Obviously, he’s a threat to go deep at any moment in the game. He’s a really good football player.”
The Bengals need Turner to take Flowers away because there’s a spotlight on the Bengals’ other outside cornerback spot.
The most under-discussed Bengals storyline has been what’s going on at outside corner opposite of Turner. After Jalen Davis injured his hamstring during the Week 3 game in Pittsburgh, the Bengals moved Dax Hill to the slot. Initially, Tacario Davis filled that open outside cornerback spot.
Tacario Davis played a shaky game in Pittsburgh as he allowed three first down catches, was too physical in coverage and showed room for improvement as a tackler. In Week 4, against the Jaguars, DJ Ivey was given a bigger role and out-snapped Tacario Davis, 41-12. In Week 5, Ivey out-snapped Tacario Davis, 36-12.
While Ivey has played the bulk of the snaps, it’s really worked out as a platoon. Ivey has played almost all of the first and second down snaps at outside corner over the last two weeks, and Tacario Davis has been a fixture on third downs.
“We’re trying to take some breaks off of those guys between special teams and third downs and early downs,” Golden said. “Trying to slice it up a bit for them and make it smaller.”
Ivey had a tough day in Miami, allowing four catches on eight targets as Malik Willis looked like he was targeting him down the stretch. While Tacario Davis’ snaps have been sparse and mostly been limited to true passing situations over the last two weeks, he has done well in coverage and allowed just one catch for four yards over the last two games.
What’s next at this outside corner spot?
“We’ll see how it progresses, if one starts to move ahead of the other,” Golden said. “We’ll see what transpires here.”
A few weeks ago, with Tacario Davis going through some typical rookie year growing pains, Turner went to Davis with some advice. Turner had been in Davis’ shoes, and he told Davis to not “overthink it. You have to crawl before you walk.”
It took Turner a few years until he became the corner that he is now.
The beauty of it all now is that while Turner didn’t have a No. 1, shutdown corner who could pick up more of the slack during his rookie year back in 2023, Tacario Davis has that guy now in Turner. Turner’s reliability against any style of No. 1 receiver creates a ripple effect that elevates the entire secondary.
“He wants to look the guy on the other side of the ball in the eyes and tell him, ‘I’ve got you all game,’” Jordan Battle said. “You see the results.”
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