The newest addition to the San Francisco 49ers roster is linebacker Ezekiel Turner, who agreed to a one-year deal with the team on Saturday after five seasons with the Arizona Cardinals.
Turner (6-2, 214) comes to the 49ers with 45 career tackles, one forced fumble, and two blocked kicks. The 27-year-old Turner is an underdog story who could fill a similar role to a player the 49ers lost in free agency, as we're about to discuss. Let's take a look at how Turner fits in with the 49ers as well as some other things to know as he begins his time with the team.
More special teams help
As is the case with defensive back Chase Lucas, whom the 49ers came to terms with last week, Turner has primarily been a special teams contributor throughout his NFL career. He gained immediate recognition in that role as a rookie in 2018 when he was named a member of the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team, and he's solidified himself as a standout on special teams ever since.
Turner has on occasion gotten the chance to play defense. He played 33 snaps on defense over the first four seasons of his NFL career before playing 107 defensive snaps in 2022 and 50 in 2023.
One of his three NFL starts came against the 49ers during the 2022 season. Turner totaled five tackles in a 38-13 loss to the 49ers in Week 17. Turner also blocked a punt against the 49ers in 2020. It's noteworthy that Turner was signed days after former 49ers linebacker Oren Burks signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, as Turner could fill a similar role to Burks as a core special teams player and occasional fill-in at linebacker.
In the blood
Turner grew up playing lacrosse in addition to football as a youth in Pasadena, Maryland, but football has been in his heart since a young age. Turner caught on to football early in life and hasn't let go of it since, riding it all the way to a career in the NFL.
"My love for the game goes back to when I was six years old and first started playing football," Turner said in 2018. "Just learning from my dad and watching college football with him every weekend. He's from Cleveland, so I grew up an Ohio State fan."
Determined underdog
Turner has been overlooked throughout his road to the NFL. As a result of a fine career at Glen Burnie (Md.) High School as a running back and as a safety, Turner received scholarship offers from Division II schools and walk-on opportunities from Towson and Charlotte. But his goals were bigger than that, and he decided to start his college career at Los Angeles Pierce College in an effort to get more visibility.
"Growing up, I always wanted to play big-time college football," Turner told the Baltimore Sun in 2018. "I knew that I was capable of playing at the next level and didn't want to sell myself short."
After totaling 35 tackles and an interception at Pierce, Turner got the attention of the University of Washington, where he decided to take the next step in his football career.
Overcoming the odds, again
Turner was a significant contributor at Washington, both on defense as a safety and on special teams. He totaled 100 tackles, four passes defensed, two interceptions, and 3.5 tackles for loss in 38 games (five starts) at Washington and was named the team's special teams MVP for multiple seasons.
Turner also gained attention for his energy ability to put a hit on his opponents.
"He's a monster," former Washington teammate JoJo McIntosh said of Turner in 2017, per the Seattle Times. "He practices like a monster. He plays like a monster. He has so much energy. You see him make a play and just go crazy, and it pumps everybody up."
At his Pro Day in 2018, Turner ran a 4.65 40-yard dash with a three-cone drill time of 6.95 seconds and a 40-yard shuttle time of 4.41 seconds. Turner felt he'd get drafted, but he wound up signing as an undrafted free agent with the Arizona Cardinals. Needless to say, he didn't let his undrafted status stand in the way of making it in the NFL.
"Expectations were that I was definitely going to be drafted, but that didn't happen," Turner told the Pasadena Voice in 2018. "I was definitely upset the rest of that day, but I eventually got over it. Either way, I was going to have to get back to work and be the underdog that I have always been and find a way."
Turner also made a switch from safety to linebacker with the Cardinals. He began that move under former 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, who spoke about Turner after he made the roster in 2018.
"What he showed in the last (preseason) game, just his ability to step up at a new position that was really foreign to him, and we just threw him in the mix," Wilks said in September of 2018, per the Voice. "Later in training camp, the physicality is there. The guy's smart. He can run, change directions, and he showed up on special teams."
Finishing what he started
Turner arrived in Arizona in the spring of 2020 just 20 credits shy of earning a degree in political science. He wasn't about to put finishing his education on hold, however.
According to a 2018 story from ESPN, Turner arrived at team facilities by 5:15 a.m. and would remain there throughout the day, occasionally needing to do some schoolwork in between football duties. He spent the evenings working on his degree and his playbook and even found a way to return to Washington for two weeks of classes as well as his graduation ceremony while missing just one organized team activity.
"I just knew growing up, my parents, that's what they always wanted me to do, was finish college and get that degree," Turner told ESPN.