POSITION REVEAL: Bears Clear Up Shemar Turner's Role on Defense

The mystery over where second-round defensive lineman Shemar Turner will play has been cleared up, at least for now.

Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen intends to use the 62nd pick in the draft immediately at the position he played last, and that's defensive tackle.

"Well, the first thing we got to do is we got to play him in at defensive tackle and let him learn there, let him develop there, both as a 3-technique and a nose, and then we’ll worry about trying to see that flexibility," Allen said. "From a skill set standpoint, yeah, he’s got some flexibility.

"We'll just have to see what he can learn, how quickly he can learn and adapt to what we’re doing."

The reason it was unclear is Turner had been a defensive end for the Aggies and enjoyed his best statistical season there in 2023 with six sacks, but then slid inside because they had two other edge players who were drafted -- Shemar Stewart and Nic Scourton. It let them put three top pass rushers on the field and Turner was heavy enough and quick enough to handle the move.

"He's athletic," Allen said. "I think that was the first thing that we saw. You see explosion and power with this player. I think he’s got the right temperament for what we’re looking for.

"I think we’ll have to put the saddle on him and break him a little bit but we’d rather have to pull the reins back rather than have to whip him to get him to go. We’re excited about working with him."

The question about Turner, if there was one, was his seven roughness penalties in the last two years. Allen doesn't see anything wrong with his attitude on the field.

"He’s got a good outgoing personality," Allen said. "I think he enjoys being in the building. I think he really loves football and that’s something that we look for in guys that we want to bring in to the building because you have to love football to do all the things that’s going to be necessary to have success in our league.

"I think he’s got a good personality and then when he’s on the field, he’s about business. So that’s good to see."

Turner didn't sound like he cared where they lined him up, just so long as they sent him a check.

"I just love playing D-line," he said. "Wherever they line me up at, I'm gonna go, and we gonna get paid."

Turner's planned weight sounds like a 3-technique who could slide inside.

"Right now, just trying not to get past 300," Turner said. "Trying to stay in the 290-295 range, somewhere in there."

At about 285-287, he could still be an end if necessary.

Planning to start Turner out at 3-technique means he is behind Grady Jarrett. When they're also planning to use him at nose tackle, as Allen said, it would seem to suggest he's not losing weight anytime soon. He has competition there from starter Andrew Billings and backups Jonathan Ford and Chris Williams

The real question then, is where this all leaves Gervon Dexter, a line starter at tackle last year?

Dexter played over 300 pounds last year but showed up for offseason work looking very much trimmed down, like a defensive end might.

Bears veterans will be back at Halas Hall for OTAs the week of May 20 and it's possible there will be an answer about whether they view the 2023 second-round pick from Florida as an edge player now after he was a tackle.