How would you grade Payton Turner’s rookie year with the New Orleans Saints? A surprise pick out of the Houston Cougars program at No. 28 overall last spring, it took fans a while to come around to Turner after months of speculation on who the team might have picked instead. And then an injury-wracked first season in the NFL added to frustration. He ended up playing just 165 snaps across five games.
Let’s start with what happened when he was on the field. Turner logged 103 pass rushing snaps, which he converted into 10 quarterback pressures (7 hurries, 2 hits, 1 sack), with a 72-31 split between rushing from the right and left sides. His 5.3 pass rush productivity score from Pro Football Focus ranked 10th among the 26 rookie defensive linemen (both interior and edge rushers) to log 100 or more snaps.
And he was very active in run defense, with all seven of his tackles on running plays qualified as stops at PFF (meaning he stopped the runner for a gain of roughly less than half the yards needed to convert a first down). That’s a stop rate of 23.3% out of his snaps played, best in the rookie class.
So he was a more impactful run defender than pass rusher, which has been typical for Saints defensive ends over the last decade. Cameron Jordan fit that same profile early in his career. So has Marcus Davenport. And just like the two of them, Turner could grow into a better quarterback hunter with more reps.
He just needs to get healthy enough for that opportunity. He’s had some tough breaks, but it’s wrong to characterize Turner as an injury-prone player. He got in on 40 of the 45 games Houston played when he was on their roster (missing three of those with COVID-19 in 2020). It’s not as if his issues are all connected like a series of knee injuries. Look at his timeline:
- Sept. 2016: ACL (high school)
- Nov. 2018: Foot (season ending, missed two games)
- 2019: Four broken fingers (played through it)
- 2020: Hand, knee, and COVID-19 (missed three games)
- Sept. 2021: Elbow (training camp, missed one game)
- Oct. 2021: Calf (missed two games)
- Nov. 2021: Shoulder (season ending)
Unless you’re suggesting the Saints should have looked at his college injury history and predicted him to miss a dozen games, which would be really dumb, it’s hard to hold it against him. Injuries are part of the game and more often than not just come down to luck. Routine tackles can end careers. It is what it is.
But it’s a very real problem that he missed so much time in his rookie year. Beyond the immediate contributions he could have added to the edge rush rotation, he needed those reps in games and in practice to help him progress and get used to NFL speed. Now he’s entering 2022 needing to catch up.
The good news is that Turner has already shown he belongs. There is a lot he can learn and improve at but he isn’t some raw talent who can’t play with a hand in the dirt. If he enjoys better health, which was the case in college, he should be an asset for the Saints defense moving forwards. At this point, though, it’s difficult to grade his rookie season as anything better than a C.
