Punter out-performs Jadeveon Clowney, Michael Bennett, Chandler Jones on bench press

The NFL Combine is underway, and Thursday brought us the bench press for running backs, offensive linemen, and special teams players. It’s easy to forget about the special teamers when it comes to strength drills, but Arizona State punter Michael Turk would have none of that.

Turk put up 25 reps on the bench press, and naturally it got people fired up. The bench press is run by strength coaches, and they are always down to get excited over strong workouts.

ESPN Stats & Info put together a list of some notable players that Turk exceeded with his performance on the bench press, and it’s an impressive one:

Frank Clark (19 in 2015)
Jadeveon Clowney (21 in 2014)
DeMarcus Lawrence (20 in 2014)
Devin White (22 in 2019)
Chandler Jones (22 in 2012)
Michael Bennett (24 in 2009)

The bench press is not going to make or break Turk’s draft stock, or that of most any special teams player. I don’t think teams are overly concerned about this kind of strength from punters and kickers. Maybe a little from long snappers, but that’s as much about technique as anything else.

That being said, it’ll be a fun story that we’ll hear about in future Combines, and one that Turk will no doubt share from time to time.