PFF Lists New Viking as a Top Rookie of the Year Candidate
After trading up to the 10th overall pick and selecting J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings shocked many in the NFL world by trading up a second time in order to land Dallas Turner with the 17th overall pick.
Turner put together a couple very strong seasons with the Alabama Crimson Tide throughout his collegiate career, but how much of an immediate impact can he have with the Vikings defense? Well, PFF’s Gordon McGuinness ranked the top four candidates for both the Offensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Rookie of the Year awards, and Turner came in fourth in these rankings for DROY.
PFF Lists New Viking on DROY Rankings
“Turner is the current favorite for the award, coming off a season during which he earned a career-high 89.3 PFF pass-rush grade, racking up 55 total pressures, including 11 sacks and 11 quarterback hits, from 292 pass-rushing snaps. Turner lit up the NFL scouting combine, too, but he is likely to wind up in a rotation with free-agent additions Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, which could hurt his overall numbers,” McGuinness wrote.
The outside linebacker position was a clear emphasis for the Vikings this offseason after they lost all three of Marcus Davenport, Danielle Hunter, and D.J. Wonnum in free agency. This exodus came a year after the Vikings also traded away Za’Darius Smith after a 10-sack season in 2022.
Needless to say, Minnesota needed to find some new talent at the position. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah answered the call by bringing in both Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel through free agency. Both players are coming off career-high sack numbers in 2023 with Greenard recording 12.5 and Van Ginkel posting six, respectively.
Dallas Turner became a third very intriguing piece to that room for 2024, but as McGuinness alludes to, will he get the same production because of some of the other new names in that room?
In all likelihood, probably not. Turner may not even be a starter throughout the season and instead may serve more of a rotational purpose behind Minnesota’s new veterans. Meanwhile, players like Laiatu Latu (McGuinness’ No. 1 player on the DPOY ranking) should have a clear path to garnering plenty of snaps right away.
Another item working against Turner at this point is the fact that he is a bit underdeveloped. For now, he is a bit of a one-trick pony in terms of his technique, heavily relying on athleticism to win reps. That is not to say he cannot get better (in fact, seeing as he just turned 21 in February, it is very likely that he gets better), but for now, Turner’s path towards the DROY award might be shaky at best largely because of the new talent playing alongside him in Minnesota.
A Minnesota Viking has never won Defensive Rookie of the Year in the 57 years of the award’s existence.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Reference.
Two Vikings Rookies Will Wear Familiar Jersey Numbers in 2024
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.