A couple of years ago, the New Orleans Saints selected defensive end Payton Turner in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, but he hasn’t accomplished much on the field during his two seasons with the Saints. But it sounds like he’s finally starting to live up to the lofty draft selection.
This week, Saints head coach Dennis Allen had some high praise for Payton Turner, making it clear that he’s starting to prove why he was selected as a first-round pick back in 2021.
“That’s the stuff that we’ve seen him doing in training camp,” Allen said according to Pro Football Talk. “That’s why we drafted him where we did. I think he’s a kid that has had a lot of injury issues, which has forced him to miss a lot of time, and therefore he’s missed a ton of development. So it’s really been an unfair assessment of the player up to this point. But I do think he’s had a good camp and I do think he made some nice plays today.”
Turner has yet to start a game during his two seasons in the league and has made a minimal impact when he has appeared as a backup, but it’s clear that he’s impressing the coaches and could see more reps this season.
