Turner was big for his day (, ); however, he was smart and very fast. Turner later boasted about his talent as a blocker: "I was such a good blocker, that the men they put in front of me – and some were stars who were supposed to be making a lot of tackles – they would have their coaches saying, 'why ain't you making any tackles?' they'd say, 'that bum Turner is holding.' Well that wasn't true. . . . I could handle anybody that they'd put in front of me." According to George Halas, Turner was "perhaps the smartest player" he had in 40 years as the Bears' coach, a player who "knew every assignment for every player on every player." Teammate George Musso once said of Turner, "Who knows what kind of player he would have been if he ever got to rest during a game?"