Name: James Turner
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 196 lbs.
High school: Saline (MI) Saline
Position: Kicker
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #32
Last year: Turner played at Louisville. He made 20/22 field goals and 38/39 extra point attempts.
TTB Rating: N/A
Michigan was spoiled by having Jake Moody kick the ball the past couple years, so last year was thoroughly enjoyable with that guy around. Now he’s making important kicks in NFL (pre-season) games.
James Turner is a hometown boy who gets a chance to kick in front of 110,000+ fans after playing his high school ball in Saline. He spent the last four years at Louisville, where he was the starting kicker. He did make a long field goal of 48 yards last season, but generally, the strength of his kicking leg is the question mark. He’s accurate, but mostly from short range.
The transfer should be Michigan’s starting kicker this fall, and word seeping out of camp suggests that’s the case. He’s battling with freshman Adam Samaha, while punter/kicker Tommy Doman is probably going to stick with punting and walk-on Hudson Hollenbeck is likely to handle kickoffs. The hope is that Turner can handle some chip-shot field goals if Michigan’s offense gets bogged down in the redzone, and . . . well . . . hopefully that’s about it. Last-second field goals to win or tie games are about the most gut-wrenching plays in sports, so I don’t want any of those. It would be nice if Michigan could just cruise to 15 comfortable victories this season . . .
Prediction: Starting kicker
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