Las Vegas Raiders: 3 UDFAs most likely to the make 53-man roster
Pittsburgh Wide Receiver Dj Turner
Before the 2020 season, Dj Turner was a wide receiver at the University of Maryland, but with the conference facing uncertainty on whether or not they were going to play the upcoming season in the Big 10, he transferred to Pitt to ensure he’d play a season in 2020.
Head coach Jon Gruden and General Manager Mike Mayock must have loved that when they heard about it, as loving football is a requirement for Gruden and Mayock, and that speaks to a love of football. The wide receiver room got fuller this past off-season with the signings of John Brown and Willie Snead, and the team is hoping Henry Ruggs and Bryan Edwards can stay healthy this season and improve on what was a disappointing rookie season for both.
That’s not where Turner is going to fit into this roster, though. During his four years at Maryland, he wasn’t much of a pass-catcher, as he only had a total of 24 receptions for 294 yards. In 2020 alone, he blew those numbers away with 44 receptions and 634 yards, that of course is a huge improvement from one year to the next.
Where he did his damage and will have to do his damage in the pros is with special teams as the return man for both kick and punt returns, and maybe even gunner.
In 2020, Turner had 15 punt returns for 125 yards, and that’s only an 8.3 per return average, but if you look back at his 2019 season, he had three returns for 107 yards with a touchdown, and that averages out to 35.7 per return. He fared better returning kicks in 2020 though, returning 14 kicks for 311 yards, giving him a 22.2 average.
3 Reasons the Las Vegas Raiders will make the playoffs in 2021
In the past two years, it seemed like the Raiders would make the playoffs only to fall apart. Here are three reasons why things will change in 2021