Injuries sidelined Chicago Bears defensive lineman Shemar Turner, but his draft status and overall talent make him the player with the most to prove from general manager Ryan Poles' 2025 draft class.
The Bears received some major contributions from their 2025 Draft class last season.
First-round draft pick Colston Loveland led the team in receiving yards, and second-round pick Luther Burden III became an explosive pass catcher for quarterback Caleb Williams. Ozzy Trapilo started seven games for the Bears at left tackle before rupturing his patellar tendon in the wild-card win over the Green Bay Packers.
All but one of general manager Ryan Poles’ Day 1 and 2 picks found meaningful snaps last season. Defensive lineman Shemar Tuner, drafted No. 62 overall in the second round from Texas A&M, played just 74 total defensive snaps before a torn ACL ended his rookie year.
Unlike Loveland, Burden and Trapilo, who have already flashed their potential, Turner remains the biggest question mark of the 2025 class.
Players who weren’t mentioned but still have a lot to prove are linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II and cornerback Zah Frazier. Hyppolite’s rookie season was impacted severely because of injuries, forcing him to just 31 total defensive snaps. Frazier didn’t play a single snap because of personal reasons.
What makes Turner the player with the most to prove from the 2025 draft class, though, is being a second-round draft pick. An ankle injury at the end of the Bears’ first training camp practice forced Turner to miss the first two regular-season games. He returned in Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys and played a season-high 23 snaps.
Turner’s usage over the next four games was limited, and just four defensive snaps into the Week 8 game against the Baltimore Ravens, Turner tore his ACL. The 6-foot-3, 293-pound defensive tackle finished the year with six total tackles on 74 defensive snaps played.
Something that defensive coordinator Dennis Allen stressed repeatedly about Turner was the importance of learning one defensive spot, initially the interior D-line. Turner played 33 total snaps in the B gap in Weeks 3-4. From Weeks 6-8, Turner had 35 total snaps lined up outside of the offensive tackles.
“You know, he was a guy that we were really excited to finally get out on the field, because obviously we had high hopes for him, acquiring him with such a high draft pick,” Ben Johnson said last October. “I thought that when we made that transition to defensive end, it certainly coincided with our ability to stop the run at a higher clip. We thought he was part of the solution there for us. I think he looked somewhat natural to play that spot for a guy that hadn’t done a ton of it. So we were really excited to see what this next half of the season was going to look like as he continued to develop in that role.
So yeah, it’s a shame that we’re going to miss out on him. He has a physical presence and demeanor about him that you really appreciate. He plays the game the way we want, really all three phases to play. He loves football, and I know he’ll attack this rehab the right way.”
In limited playing time, Turner made a positive impact, and that’s what the Bears will need to see from him once he can get back on the football field.
This Bears defense struggled to apply consistent quarterback pressure and didn’t contain the run well enough. Turner could help in both those areas, but he will have to remain healthy for that to happen.
Poles feels strongly that Turner can provide the impact his fellow draft mates created during their rookie seasons.
“I felt like he was going to be on that same track as Colston, Luther and Ozzy,” Poles told The Bigs during the NFL's annual league meeting.
If Turner can put himself on that same track, then the Bears’ defense will have an impactful player to deploy on the defensive line this upcoming season.