Charles Turner III NFL Draft 2024: Scouting Report for New England Patriots IOL

HEIGHT: 6'4"

WEIGHT: 303

HAND: 9⅜"

ARM: 34"

WINGSPAN: 83¼"

40-YARD DASH: 5.50

3-CONE: 7.88

SHUTTLE: 4.62

VERTICAL: 31"

BROAD: 9'1"

POSITIVES

— Excellent length serves as an effective recovery tool that buys his feet time to get in front of defenders working his edges.

— Strains hard through contact to stay centered on blocks, with excellent effort to get last meaningful contact and finish blocks.

— Has enough burst to step on the toes of 'backers and capture them inside his frame.

— Stout, physical presence when uncovered to dish out body blows and grind down pick attempts.

NEGATIVES

— Doesn't maximize length very well in the run game due to wide and tardy hand placement that exposes his chest, gets him leaning into contact and leaves him vulnerable to losing clean across his face.

— Clunky movements when gaining depth in his pass set and shifting weight laterally.

— Doesn't always sort out basic line games and stunts due to taking the bait and getting stuck on sugar rushes.

— Lack of starting experience at guard combined with looking out of place at guard during Senior Bowl practices likely pigeonholes him as solely a center in the NFL.

2023 STATISTICS

— 13 starts at center

NOTES

— 3-star recruit from the 2019 class, per 247Sports

— Began his career at LSU as a blocking tight end before gaining 50 pounds over his first few years on campus and settling at center

— Suffered a torn labrum that ended his 2021 season after four games

— 40 career appearances with 26 starts (25 at center, one at right tackle)

— Invited to the 2024 Senior Bowl

OVERALL

Charles Turner III is a two-year starter inside LSU's balanced, downhill and multiple run scheme built around inside zone, duo and power concepts with 13 starts at center in 2023. Turner has adequate girth, mass and play strength with decent burst and excellent length.

Turner wins as a run-blocker with stubborn grip strength, excellent effort and strain to fight to stay connected and finish blocks through the whistle. He can stay attached on angle-drive and base blocks against bigger, plodding run defenders, but he has a bad habit of playing short, negating his length and being late/wide with his hand placement, which causes him to lose cleanly across his face against shiftier opponents, slanting and gap exchanges.

Turner has enough burst to get on top of and engulf 'backers on quick, uncovered climbs. However, he will get easily manipulated out of position when he has to stop/start and add tempo on his releases.

In pass protection, Turner excels using physicality, aggression and a nasty demeanor to deliver body blows when uncovered and using strain to die slowly against power. He shows lower-half stiffness when having to create space out of his stance and redirect, but his length can buy his feet time to recover back into the fight.

Overall, Turner is a physical center-only prospect with the length and competitive toughness to battle for a roster spot. But his marginal hand placement often negates his length, leading to quick, clean losses that suggests he'll be a backup in the NFL, especially without proven versatility.

GRADE: 5.7 (Backup/Draftable — 6th-7th Round)

OVERALL RANK: 216

POSITION RANK: IOL31

PRO COMPARISON: William Sherman

Written by B/R NFL Scout Brandon Thorn

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