Should the Vikings’ Rookie Start? The Coach Weighs In
The Vikings’ rookie pass rusher Dallas Turner has been impressive. Fans can see the talent; more importantly, so can the coaches.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores spoke about Mr. Turner in his Tuesday press conference, taking on a question about what the young guy’s role is going to be in Week 1. “We talk roles,” Flores explains, “we actually had that conversation yesterday. How much do we see Tillery playing? How much do we see Dallas playing? How much do we see Ginkel playing? So, yeah, I think we’ve got a role envisioned for Dallas.”
The Vikings’ Rookie — Dallas Turner — and The Week 1 Plan
Notably, the DC goes on to suggest that the plan can get adjusted. If Turner is crushing it, Flores is going to let the rookie continue crushing it.
Flores’ thoughts: “That changes. If he’s got the hot hand, we’ll leave him in. If it’s what we expected, then we’ll just keep it as we planned it out.” There’s a hint buried in there. Turner isn’t going to be leaned on to be an every-down player, but there is a job out there for him. If, however, he produces at an excellent rate, then the DC isn’t going to pull him off the field.
In other words, the plan appears to be to get Turner into the mix without committing to making him an every-down starter. During the game, Flores is more than happy to adjust his approach if Turner shows that he shouldn’t get taken off the field.
Not too long afterwards, Flores describes his rookie pass rusher as being “smart” and “tough.” He then goes on to explain the benefits of Turner being able to work within a room consisting of excellent veterans like Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, who are more than happy to pour into the No. 17 pick.
Make no mistake: the veteran adds — Greenard and Van Ginkel — are very likely to be the starters. Even with that being the reality, though, Dallas Turner is going to be leaned on to create a lot of havoc.
The brains and toughness combine with some excellent athletic ability and length to create a pass rusher who oozes potential. Genuinely, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see Mr. Turner flirt with 10 sacks in his debut season in the NFL. After all, the aforementioned veteran pass rushers are going to be soaking up a lot of attention, so Turner will have his one-on-one looks.
The challenge in New York will come from Daniel Jones’ athleticism. True, he isn’t a great quarterback, but he moves very well on the ground and has some good size (6’5″, 230). Getting him to the ground won’t be particularly easy, but past seasons have involved getting sacked a decent bit. In just six games last year, Jones got sacked 30 times.
Helping to rectify that issue will be Andrew Thomas, one of New York’s offensive tackles and genuinely one of the better linemen in the league. Whoever gets to wrestle with Thomas will have his hands full.
Dallas Turner is coming off a productive preseason where he showed flashes of promise. Most prominently, there was the sack where he beat Andrus Peat and forced Las Vegas to settle for a field goal. Take a look:
While playing for Alabama in 2023, Turner was quite productive. He had 53 tackles, 10 sacks, and 14.5 TFLs. Clearly, the man has something figured out when it comes to making plays behind the line of scrimmage. The hope in Minnesota is that the trend will carry over into the NFL.
Dallas Turner, 21, will make his official NFL debut on Sunday, September 8th against the New York Giants. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Sports Reference CFB helped with this piece.
K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.
