For the fourth year in a row, an Alabama football player has been named the Defensive Player of the Year for the Southeastern Conference. Dallas Turner was recognized along with three other Tide honorees on Wednesday.

Other 2023 winners included Will Reichard (special teams), Caleb Downs (newcomer), Missouri’s Brady Cook (scholar-athlete) and Eli Drinkwitz (coach), LSU’s Jayden Daniels (offense) and Georgia’s Sedrick Van Pran (blocking).

Turner set a career-high with 10 sacks (second-most in the SEC). He totaled 50 tackles, two forced fumbles and a pass deflection. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native was named as a permanent captain and is projected to be a first-round pick in next spring’s NFL Draft.

“Dallas has always been a good player for us. He’s always a hard worker, really conscientious guy, has sort of a high standard for how he wants to play and do things,” head coach Nick Saban said on Oct. 2 when asked about Turner’s growth. “This year I think he’s trying to take on a little bit more of a leadership role in terms of how he can impact and affect other people on the team, which I think he’s done a good job of and he’s played really well for us.”

Turner joins Rolando McClain (2009), C.J. Mosley (2013), Reggie Ragland (2015), Jonathan Allen (2016), Patrick Surtain II (2020) and Will Anderson Jr. (2021 and 2022) as the UA winners since Nick Saban took the job in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama had eight first-team selections on the All-SEC coaches team, announced on Tuesday.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].