Turner One to Watch at Atlantic

Delray Beach Atlantic has turned out its fair share of talented football players over the years including Ohio State commit James Louis (2010), Virginia Tech Hokie Jayron Hosely (2009), LSU Tiger Karnell Hatcher (2007), Miami Hurricane Orlando Franklin (2006), former Hokie and current Kansas City Chief Brandon Flowers (2003), and former Hokie and current New York Jet David Clowney (2003). In the 2011 class, one player hoping to follow in the footsteps of those former Eagle greats is wide receiver Ezekiel Turner.

Turner finished his junior season with 26 catches for 538 yards and eight touchdowns, parlaying that strong season into some interest from a handful of colleges.

“Miami, Ole Miss, Nebraska, Rutgers, Wisconsin, and my coaches have been telling about a lot of other schools have been talking about me,” said Turner. “When they went to the coaches’ convention, it was Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech. I get the most letters from Nebraska and Wisconsin though.”

Turner is a nifty little 5-foot-10, 160-pound receiver that has a knack for getting open and features a solid set of hands. He talked about those strengths.

“I’m working on my speed, but I can find some holes in a defense,” explained Turner. “When I do that I can make some real nice catches, and I work real hard at practice.”

Improving his speed is the sole focus of Turner’s this offseason, as he feels his other abilities are up to par.

“My speed is it. I got the good qualities of a receiver. Just my speed is really, what I want to work on. I think I’m great at everything I do and I’m also an excellent blocker. I love blocking and contact.”

The talented wide out took part in the SoFLAfootball 7-on-7 Showcase Sunday and the amount of talent on the field served as a motivation for Turner moving forward.

“It was a wakeup call for me because there are a lot of great players out there, not just the ones I play. It was a real nice event (Luke) Stampini put together, I really appreciated it.”

Turner came away a little more impressed with one of the defensive backs than the rest on the day though.

“The dude from St. Thomas (Marcus Roberson), I went up against him a couple times and he put a couple good moves on me, a good jam on me. Of all the DB’s I liked that dude from St. Thomas.”

At Atlantic Turner was part of a talented wide receiving corps that featured Louis, Ole Miss commit Quadarias Mireles, and fellow junior J’Rod Beard. Sunday’s group of receivers was something that impressed Turner just as much as his own running mates this past fall.

“It was real nice being on the same receiving corps as Nick O’Leary. I didn’t know Nick could spread out as a wide out, that impressed me. Kelvin Benjamin, that’s a big guy, that shocked me. He has nice hands on him, real nice hands.”

Look for video on the SoFLAfootball 7-on-7 Showcase to come soon.