After battling back to full speed, Florida State DE Byron Turner Jr. seizing expanded opportunity

With former starter Derrick McLendon entering the transfer portal earlier this spring, the door to playing time opened a whole lot wider for Florida State’s younger defensive ends.

And after redshirt sophomore Patrick Payton, who earned ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2022, the Seminole who could benefit the most might just be classmate Byron Turner Jr.

The 2021 signee has seen limited playing time during his first two seasons at Florida State, mostly due to injuries, but he is expected to be a major piece of the Seminoles’ defensive end rotation in 2023. And for Turner, it’s a long time coming.

“This is really my first chance of really getting a chance to play,” he said last week. “[This spring] is very important.”

The challenges started for the New Orleans product even before he arrived in Tallahassee two years ago.

After playing through a shoulder injury late in his career at Louisiana football power St. Augustine High, Turner thought he would be able to continue rehabbing and get on the field as a true freshman at Florida State — at least on special teams. But he ended up requiring surgery, which ended that season before it began, and Turner admits it was a difficult time emotionally.

“I was thinking I was going to be able to come here, play through the injury and not have to worry about it,” Turner said. “But once I got out here, it started getting worse and worse, to where I had no choice but to get the surgery.”

The one benefit to that first year of rehabbing and redshirting was the opportunity to watch that year’s starters — Jermaine Johnson and Keir Thomas — in action. He saw how the future NFL players performed in games, of course, but he also observed their professional approach to practice.

And after learning as much as he could from them, Turner had high hopes again going into the 2022 season.

He had worked his way back to full strength, and he performed well enough in preseason drills that he earned spots on the Seminoles’ starting kickoff coverage and punt return units. He even saw mop-up duty on defense in Florida State’s season-opening rout of Duquesne.

But three weeks later, the promising defensive end would be hit with another setback. A hamstring injury in the Boston College game would force him to miss nearly two months.

“It was hard, but I had a great team behind me — everybody behind me,” Turner said of his teammates and coaches. “They kept supporting me. They kept me with my head up. Every time my head went down, they picked it up.”

Turner wasted no time showing what he could do when he returned. He saw 14 snaps on defense in his first game back against Syracuse, and then he played 24 snaps one week later in the Seminoles’ November blowout of Louisiana. Turner recorded a career-high two tackles in that game.

The New Orleans product, who now checks in at 6-foot-4 and 237 pounds, then contributed on special teams in the Seminoles’ late-season wins over Florida and Oklahoma.

Since then, it has been full-speed ahead.

In Florida State’s most recent practice on Thursday, Turner flashed his potential with an early play during goal-line drills. After shedding a blocker, Turner met fullback DJ Lundy near the line of scrimmage and dropped him short of the end zone.

It was the continuation of a strong spring overall.

“Byron has taken advantage of his opportunity,” defensive ends coach John Papuchis said after last Saturday’s second team scrimmage. “I think he’s probably had his best — if I’m going to include today in it — his best three days in a row that he’s had since he’s been here.

“What I’ve been impressed with is he’s been really solid fundamentally, and his execution in the scheme has been on point. So I’ve been really pleased with his progress.”

While McLendon didn’t post big numbers for Florida State’s defense — he recorded 37 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 5.0 tackles for loss in 2022 — he was a huge contributor overall, playing more snaps than any other defensive lineman. According to Pro Football Focus, McLendon saw action on 533 defensive plays — the next highest total for a defensive lineman was Robert Cooper with 414.

First-team All-ACC performer and preseason All-American Jared Verse will lead the Seminoles’ defensive ends in 2023, and Payton will be in prime position to claim the other starting role. South Carolina transfer Gilber Edmond will be a key cog in the rotation as well, but after that, it’s wide open.

As of now, Turner has the inside track. He is completely healthy and has performed well in spring drills.

Other contenders will be junior college transfer Jaden Jones, who is returning from a torn ACL, and redshirt freshmen Dante Anderson and Aaron Hester. After that, it’s true freshman Lamont Green Jr. and the possibility of using lighter defensive tackles who could fill in if needed.

But Turner very well could be first in line. And after two years of delayed progress, he understands the opportunity before him.

“I feel like the game slowed down a lot for me,” he said. “I’ve started playing the game more … between my ears. It’s less physical for me now; it became more mental to where I can just be able to read everything.”

After taking a few days off for Easter weekend, Florida State will return to practice on Tuesday. The Seminoles’ spring showcase is set for next Saturday, April 15.

Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.

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