DB Joshua Turner to transfer from Iowa

Redshirt freshman defensive back Joshua Turner will leave the Iowa football program.

The former three-star recruit put out a short note on Twitter Monday evening:

The Delray Beach, Florida native saw action in 11 games this year, recording five tackles (four solo) in mostly special teams duties. He redshirted in 2017. Here’s our piece on his commitment.

One of the ‘Eno Benjamin recruiting’ commits, Turner fell behind a number of other young defensive backs on Iowa’s roster (including true freshman Julius Brents and Riley Moss) as the season went on.

With Iowa likely returning nearly all its defensive backs next season, Turner likely wants to try and find more playing time elsewhere. This makes sense and it’s hard to blame him — other players seem to have developed quicker and Turner won’t have been much more than depth.

That said, there’s something to be said for waiting for a chance. Few FBS schools have had more recent luck with standout defensive backs that end in the NFL than Iowa and many of them have waited for playing time.

Even so, Phil Parker has also bucked long-time trends and started playing some of his young defensive backs earlier which, again, makes this decision seem more than sensible for all parties.

Listed at 5-foot-11 and 188 pounds, he was certainly a project. Now, though, he’ll be someone else’s project to take.

As his recruiting tape above shows, there was something there with Turner. It’s just one of those things. Good luck to Turner in his future endeavors.