Turning Back the Clock on Dallas Turner and His Potential with the Vikings

Dallas Turner, per some opinions, could have been the first defender off the board.

Instead, Mr. Turner went at No. 17 after the Minnesota Vikings made a bold move up from No. 23. He’s coming off a modest rookie season that involved being the EDGE5, playing 300 snaps and earning zero starts. Now, that’s not to say there was no promise — he had an interception and a trio of sacks, to highlight just a few strong moments — but he does need to take a sophomore jump instead of tumbling into a sophomore slump.

Dallas Turner and The Expectations

Consider one scouting report on Mr. Turner, someone who received plenty of hype leading into the 2024 NFL Draft.

Lance Zierlein of the NFL’s website offered an opinion: “Long and athletic with the explosive traits needed to become an impactful NFL pass rusher. Turner’s first-step quickness and elite closing burst are important building blocks, but he still needs to work on his process from Point A to Point B. He hasn’t learned to create the space and angles needed to consistently attack the edges, but that should come with better hand development and a more diversified approach.”

Further: “A team would be wise to widen him out and allow him a better runway to ignite his burst and overwhelm tackles with his speed. He’s added 20 pounds since coming to Alabama, but he struggles at times to stack and shed run blockers or set a firm edge. Turner’s frame and game are much less developed than Will Anderson Jr.’s coming out of Alabama last year, so it could take time for him to make his mark as a starting 3-4 outside linebacker.”

Take some time to unpack some of those thoughts.

Starting off by being someone with good length and explosiveness is excellent. The idea of getting kicked out wide to turn on his speed makes a pile of sense. In the forty, Turner ran a near identical time to Justin Jefferson. Any chance an offensive tackle would struggle to keep up with someone firing off the ball with the same speed as Jefferson?

But then there’s the idea about getting better with his hands. A lot of the time, folks, winning at the line of scrimmage comes down to a hand battle. Learning new, varied techniques to beat NFL-level blockers was always part of the plan for Turner.

Now go ahead and consider part of another scouting report.

Bleacher Report offered an opinion on Dallas Turner: “Dallas Turner might be the best pure athlete in this year’s edge class. He has a good get-off and is a smooth-mover when working laterally. Not to mention his speed, which allows him to close on quarterbacks and make hustle plays down the field with chase-down tackles.” One of the bullet-point critiques: “Can afford to add some size and strength to be more effective at holding ground against stronger offensive linemen.”

A concluding thought: “Overall, Turner has plenty of tools to work with to warrant a top-15—and maybe even a top-10—selection in this year’s draft class. Schematically, his best fit is as a standup outside linebacker for a team that uses a lot of odd fronts.”

A basic idea that shines through is that Dallas Turner is someone who is a very gifted athlete, giving him a high ceiling in the NFL. The mention of having good “hustle” is encouraging insight that did show up in Turner’s rookie season. Not just an athlete, Turner works hard on the field, putting in extra effort to let his physical gifts shine. Note, as well, that Flores moved the edge rusher around some, suggesting that the rookie puts in work off the field to study.

What’s needed, though, is more time to fulfill his potential. Working on refining his technique, becoming stronger, and getting the chance to soak up life in the NFL seems to be what the doctor ordered prior to the 2024 NFL Draft.

Accordingly, Dallas Turner’s rookie season was fairly restrained, at least in terms of what Minnesota asked him to do.

Again, we’re talking about the EDGE5, meaning he was (in a sense) the backup to the backups. No such obstacle exists going into 2025. Yes, Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel are still around to function as the every-down starters, but Turner is going to be leaned on to put in a lot more snaps. He’ll need to continue showing off his strengths — speed, length, work ethic, etc. — while showing he has improved on the areas that the coaching staff has identified (areas that may or may not correspond to the pre-draft scouting reports).

Dallas Turner is 22.

Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.

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