General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah entered the draft with two first-round picks after swapping a pair of second-rounders for Houston’s 23rd overall pick. The Vikings wanted to select their first first-round QB since 2014. When J.J. McCarthy was available at the tenth spot, however, Adofo-Mensah didn’t need to give up his additional first-rounder.
Vikings Rookie Shows Flashes of Potential
With some significant defensive talent on the board, Adofo-Mensah decided to spend even more picks to get in position to draft pass rusher Dallas Turner out of Alabama.
The defense needed an infusion of youth, as the recent drafts hadn’t gone well, including a bunch of years under Rick Spielman’s reign, and Turner could turn into that foundation on the defensive front.
Early in the year, Turner was stuck on the depth chart behind emerging stars Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel. Pat Jones’ rise and a minor knee injury also didn’t help him get more run. Recently, however, Turner has gotten a ton of reps, and he displayed his playmaking ability.
A week ago, the 21-year-old delivered a vicious hit against Falcons QB Kirk Cousins. This week, he connected, sending Caleb Williams to the turf after a nasty move against Chicago’s solid RT Darnell Wright.
Turner is an intriguing talent, and he has a three-year track record under Nick Saban on his resume. He produced 22.5 sacks through those three campaigns and added 32.5 tackles for loss. At the scouting combine, the 21-year-old had one of the best outings of all prospects in this year’s class when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.46 seconds.
His teammate Christian Darrisaw confirmed the explosiveness during an interview at the OTAs. Alec Lewis (The Athletic) tweeted in May: “Vikings LT Christian Darrisaw said Dallas Turner is going to be special. Said Turner put a spin move on someone last week, and CD said the Turner spin move was ‘quicker than Danielle’s.’”
Hunter’s spin move is one of the best in the league, so it was fun to hear that.
Turner has appeared in 13 of the team’s 14 games (missing one due to a knee injury), recording two sacks and 15 tackles.
NFL analyst Mike Golic Jr. tweeted after the rookie’s recent QB takedown, “That bend from Dallas Turner is why I just couldn’t look away from that guy in the pre-draft process. Just not a lot of dudes with that tool in the bag.”
The defender played 33 snaps against the Bears, the second-highest number in his career.
In October, defensive coordinator Brian Flores said about the young player, “I think he’s done a great job. I think he’s a young player (with) a bright future. I’ve heard the talk about the snap counts, and I think it’s just hard to make a determination on a player and what he is based on seven games, especially early in his career. He wants to be out there, and we’ll get him out there.”
He then promised to increase the snap count: “We’re going to get him in a little bit more, certainly, but he’s in a deep room. Dallas Turner is a good player, I’ll say that.”
It is, indeed, a deep room. Greenard, Van Ginkel, and Jones have already registered a total of 27 sacks, and all three are excellent run-stoppers.
Turner needs time to refine his pass-rushing plan and add some more moves to his arsenal while improving the timing of his actions. Still, he is a versatile defender with outstanding athletic traits. His time will come.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Sports Reference CFB helped with this article.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt