Malik Turner (American football)
Malik Turner (born January 30, 1996) is an American football wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Illinois, and was originally signed by the Seattle Seahawks in 2018 as an undrafted free agent.
| No. 17 – Dallas Cowboys | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | January 30, 1996 Springfield, Illinois | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 202 lb (92 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Sacred Heart-Griffin (Springfield, Illinois) | ||||||||
| College: | Illinois | ||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2018 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2019 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||
Early years
Turner attended Sacred Heart-Griffin High School, where he practiced football and basketball. He received All-Central State Eight honors as a sophomore and junior.
As a senior, he tallied 69 receptions for 1,378 yards (19.9-yard avg.) and 22 touchdowns, while contributing to a 14-0 record and an IHSA Class 5A state championship. He received Central State Eight Conference Player of the Year honors.
College career
Turner accepted a football scholarship from the University of Illinois. As a true freshman, he appeared in 13 games with 5 starts at wide receiver. He registered 25 receptions for 256 yards and one touchdown. He had 6 receptions for 84 yards against Louisiana Tech University.
As a sophomore, he appeared in 12 games with 10 starts. He posted 39 receptions for 510 yards (second on the team) and 3 receiving touchdowns (tied for the team lead). He had 11 catches for 126 yards against the University of Minnesota.
As a junior, he started 11 games and missed one contest with an injury. He led the team with 48 receptions, 712 yards and 6 receiving touchdowns. He had 11 receptions and 164 yards against Northwestern University. He made 9 receptions for 107 yards against Western Michigan University. He was named honorable-mention All-Big Ten.[1]
As a senior, he started 9 out of 10 games. He missed 2 games with an injury. He collected 31 receptions (tied for the team lead), 326 receiving yards (second on the team) and 2 touchdowns.
He finished his college career with 143 receptions (ninth in school history), 1,804 receiving yards (ninth in school history) and 10 receiving touchdowns.[2]
Professional career
Seattle Seahawks
After an unsuccessful tryout at a minicamp with the Green Bay Packers, Turner was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent on July 29, 2018.[3] He was cut by the Seahawks at the end of training camp but was re-signed by the team to their practice squad on September 10, 2018.[4] Turner was promoted to the Seahawks' active roster on October 31, 2018.[5] Turner made his NFL debut on November 4, 2018 in a 17–25 loss against the Los Angeles Chargers.[6] Turner caught his first career pass, a 19-yard reception from Russell Wilson, in the Seahawks' 30–27 win over the Carolina Panthers on November 25, 2018.[7] He was waived on December 22, 2018 and re-signed to the practice squad and was subsequently promoted back to the active roster on January 1, 2019.[8][9] In his rookie season, Turner caught two passes for 20 yards in six games played.
In a Monday Night Football game on November 11, 2019 against the San Francisco 49ers, after an injury to Tyler Lockett, Turner caught two passes for 35 yards, both in overtime.[10] Turner caught a 33-yard pass from Wilson for his first career touchdown on November 24, 2019 in a 17–9 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.[11]
During the 2019 Divisional round game against the Green Bay Packers, Turner dropped a critical catch while wide open.[12]
On April 14, 2020, after originally receiving an exclusive-rights free agent tender, the Seahawks rescinded the tender, making Turner a free agent.[13]
Green Bay Packers
On August 12, 2020, Turner signed with the Green Bay Packers.[14] He was waived on September 5, 2020.[15]
Dallas Cowboys
On September 6, 2020, Turner was claimed off waivers by the Dallas Cowboys, to play on the special teams units, helping to offset the loss of wide receiver Ventell Bryant to a knee injury.[16]
NFL career statistics
Regular season
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | Fumbles | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FUM | Lost | ||
| 2018 | SEA | 6 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 10.0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | SEA | 15 | 3 | 15 | 245 | 16.3 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 21 | 3 | 17 | 265 | 15.6 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Source: NFL.com | ||||||||||
Postseason
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | Fumbles | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FUM | Lost | ||
| 2019 | SEA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Source: pro-football-reference.com | ||||||||||
References
- Seligman, Noah (July 9, 2017). "Borrowing Talent from Big Ten West Foes". BadgerOfHonor.com. FanSided. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
- Rejc, Matt (February 15, 2018). "Malik Turner: Through Thick and Thin". TheChampaignRoom.com. SB Nation. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
- Boyle, John (July 29, 2018). "Seahawks Sign Receivers Marvin Bracy & Malik Turner, Waive LS Tanner Carew & TE Kayaune Ross". Seahawks.com. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
- Arthur, Ben (September 11, 2018). "Report: Seattle Seahawks bring back Malik Turner, sign him to practice squad". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
- Boyle, John (October 31, 2018). "Seahawks Promote Receiver Malik Turner From Practice Squad". Seahawks.com.
- "Los Angeles Chargers at Seattle Seahawks – November 4th, 2018 – Snap Counts". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
- Rodrigue, Jourdan (November 25, 2018). "Instant analysis: Secondary is primary problem, spoiling the Newton- McCaffrey show". CharlotteObserver.com. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
- "Seahawks Promote Elijah Nkansah From Practice Squad". Seahawks.com. December 22, 2018.
- "Seahawks Place Delano Hill On Injured Reserve & Other Injury Updates From Pete Carroll". Seahawks.com. January 1, 2019.
- "Malik Turner 2018 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- Werner, Jeremy (November 24, 2019). "WATCH: Fomer Illini WR Malik Turner scores first NFL touchdown". 247Sports.com. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
- https://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/nfl/seattle-seahawks/article239187943.html
- Gantt, Darin (April 14, 2020). "Seahawks rescind contract tender to Malik Turner". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
- "Packers sign WR Malik Turner". Packers.com. August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- "Packers announce roster moves". packers.com. September 5, 2020.
- Helman, David (September 6, 2020). "Cowboys Claim WR, Release Veteran LB". DallasCowboys.com.