The Windy City Welcomes a Wall: Bears Select DT Shemar Turner with 62nd Overall Pick in 2025 NFL Draft
CHICAGO – The clock ticked down on the 62nd pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, and the Bears’ war room pulsed with quiet intensity. General Manager Ryan Poles leaned forward, eyes locked on the screen as names vanished one by one. But their man remained.
When the card was finally turned in, a wave of quiet satisfaction swept over the room.
Shemar Turner. Defensive Tackle. Texas A&M.
For some teams, it was a surprise. For Chicago, it was strategy.
Turner, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound wrecking ball with arms like battering rams and a motor that rarely cooled, had slid just far enough for the Bears to pounce. In a class loaded with edge speed and flashy corners, Turner was the anvil—raw, relentless, and ready.
“Violent hands. Rare twitch. And a mean streak you can’t teach,” head coach Matt Eberflus said later. “We’re building something nasty on defense, and Shemar fits that mold.”
Turner’s college tape was a highlight reel of chaos—guards tossed aside like loose paper, quarterbacks swallowed in the pocket, and screens blown up before they could breathe. Though he wasn’t always the headline star at Texas A&M, scouts loved his growth, his explosiveness off the snap, and a ferocity that seemed forged in something deeper than competition.
He’s not just a disruptor; he’s a tone-setter.
In the moments after the pick, the cameras caught Turner back home in DeSoto, Texas. He stood, hugged his mother tightly, and exhaled—equal parts relief and readiness. “I’m built for this,” he said into the camera. “Chicago’s gonna get everything I’ve got. Every snap.”
Analysts had projected Turner anywhere from late first round to mid-third, but Poles and his staff had circled him months ago. The plan was clear: reinforce the interior. With the Bears’ edge rushers showing flashes of dominance last season, the missing piece was a force inside to collapse pockets and draw double-teams.
Turner is that piece.
“This guy’s a problem,” said former Bears defensive lineman and current NFL Network analyst Alex Brown. “He’s got a low center of gravity, rare balance, and when he hits, you feel it in the booth.”
Chicago fans, weary of rebuilds and half-measures, lit up social media with cautious hope. “We need dogs on defense,” one fan tweeted. “Turner looks like a pit bull in shoulder pads.”
As rookie minicamp looms, the buzz around Halas Hall is different. It’s not just about potential—it’s about presence. Shemar Turner brings both.
And in a city where defense isn’t just tradition but identity, that may be the most important pick of all.
Want a mock-up of him in a Bears jersey?
