Freakishly Athletic Alabama Pass Rusher Visits Vikings on Monday
The Minnesota Vikings have had a very busy start to the week in terms of pre-draft visits.
With the 2024 NFL Draft being just a couple weeks away, teams have been racking up as many of their top-30 visits as they can over the past few days. The Vikings are no exception, and on Monday, Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner was the latest player to visit Minnesota.
Alabama Edge Rusher Dallas Turner Visits Vikings
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweeted, “Alabama edge Dallas Turner, who could be the first defensive player off the board, is visiting the #Vikings today. Minnesota owns the No. 11 pick (and No. 23). A busy pre-draft process for Turner, who also has visits with the #Bears, #Chargers, #Falcons and #Cardinals.”
Turner is projected to be one of the first edge rushers to come off the draft board later this month. Much of the hype around the Alabama product boils down to two items: his age and athleticism. He just turned 21 years old in February after putting up a double-digit sack season during the 2023 season for the Crimson Tide.
As a result of his collegiate production at such a young age, there is plenty of reason to believe that he not only is capable of being an immediate contributor at the NFL level, but he has the potential to grow into an elite pass rusher.
Turner then proceeded to turn heads at the NFL Scouting Combine back in March. He ran 4.46 seconds in the 40-yard dash while also leaping 40.5 inches in the vertical. As a result, he earned a Relative Athletic Score of 8.82.
The main concern with Turner heading into the NFL revolves around his size. He stands at just 6’2″ and weighed in at under 250 pounds at the combine. However, this athleticism minimizes some of these size concerns along with his ridiculous length. He possesses 34 3/8″ arms, which tied for the longest arms of any edge rusher at the event.
Of course, the Vikings filled the majority of their edge rushing needs through free agency this offseason. Both Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel are very suitable starters to replace Danielle Hunter and D.J. Wonnum this season.
Still, at the very least, Turner could be a fantastic depth piece in the Vikings defense with the potential to become a starter. Keep in mind, Van Ginkel’s contract is only a two-year deal while Greenard’s contract has a potential out following the 2025 season as well.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Sports Reference CFB.
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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.