Bengals’ biggest Pro Bowl snub is inexcusable and reminiscent of another injustice from several years ago
Bengals cornerback DJ Turner II had a legitimate Pro Bowl year, whether voters knew it or not.
On top of wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase being selected for his fifth Pro Bowl, the Cincinnati Bengals have three alternates for the 2026 Pro Bowl Games.
WR Tee Higgins (second), cornerback DJ Turner II (third), and kickoff returner Chalie Jones (fifth) can all be added to the Pro Bowl roster if enough selected Pro Bowlers at their respective positions drop out.
With respect to Higgins and Jones, Turner does not belong in this group. He belongs on the actual AFC roster with Chase, and the fact that he’s not is inexcusable.
DJ Turner was wrongfully omitted from the 2026 Pro Bowl Games roster
The strongest case for Bengals player to make the Pro Bowl with Chase belonged to Turner simply because he’s been one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL this season. He remains the league-leader in passes defensed (17), has hauled in two interceptions, and only 49.1% of passes targeted his way have been completed. He also boasts a Pro Football Focus coverage grade of 77.1.
The AFC roster for the Pro Bowl has four cornerbacks: Christian Gonzalez of the New England Patriots, Derek Stingley of the Houston Texans, Patrick Surtain II of the Denver Broncos, and Denzel Ward of the Cleveland Browns.
Turner has more passes defensed than all four, a lower percentage of targets caught than all four, a higher coverage grade than all four, and more interceptions than Gonzalez, Surtain, and Ward.
Surtain and Ward have made Pro Bowls before, three and four, respectively, but Gonzalez is a first-time honoree drafted from the same 2023 class Turner was selected from. Turner had all the qualifications to be another first-time Pro Bowler as well, especially compared to his in-state rival Ward.
Pro Bowl voting takes voting from fans, players, and coaches into account. Turner was left outside the top 10 in fan voting while Surtain (third), Stingley (fifth), Gonzalez (sixth), and Ward (10th) all made the list. He didn’t really have a chance without fan support, and he’s not the first Cincinnati defensive back in recent memory to be left out in the cold like this.
Turner’s snub reeks of when Jessie Bates was treated the same
While Turner was still a sophomore at Michigan in 2020, former Bengals safety Jessie Bates III was having his best statistical season of his career. Bates posted three interceptions, 15 passes defensed, a PFF coverage grade of 90.0, and was the only positive of a terrible Cincinnati defense. He was even in the All-Pro conversation and was named a Second Team All-Pro.
He was left out of the Pro Bowl.
Lack of interceptions? The 2020 AFC Pro Bowlers bested him in that regard, but every other important metric of production pointed to Bates being one of the best safeties in the league that year. His biggest flaw was being on a 4-11-1 Bengals team.
Cincinnati is currently 5-10 and has played awful defense for the vast majority of the season with Turner having his breakout season in the third year of his career. Bates was also in his third year in 2020.
The Pro Bowl will always have snubs that get punished by the selection process, but much like Bates’ case was extreme, Turner has a legitimate argument as well.
Playing on a bad defense on a bad team is proven to be costly, and it cost another Bengals defensive back of a Pro Bowl honor.
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Cincinnati put on a defensive clinic in Miami despite missing cornerback DJ Turner II for half the day.
