After the Criticism, A Vikings Defender is Proving Me Wrong as Week 12 Nears
Not often does it occur where I’m pleased to admit an error. In this case, however, I’ll be quite pleased to do so. Being wrong about Vikings defender Dallas Turner would be great.
The No. 17 selection has played mostly underwhelming football since entering the NFL. Long, explosive, and saturated in talent, Turner too often ceded room on the ground while then getting stonewalled as a pass rusher. Recent weeks, though, have seen the tides turn. Increasingly, Turner is stringing together disruptive plays, slowly working up to becoming an excellent edge rusher.
Vikings Defender Dallas Turner Starting to Shine
One wonders if the expectations were too high.
All-world edge rusher Danielle Hunter had just been allowed to return to his hometown of Houston. Both of Jonathan Greenard alongside Andrew Van Ginkel had potential, but the position was still leading to questions as the 2024 offseason unravelled. Inserting the long-and-strong Turner into the mix had much appeal since he possessed blistering speed and was coming out of a major college program.
To be sure, the cost of acquisition was enormous.
And then there was the perception of him slipping down the board. Many draft nerds forecasted Turner going within the opening ten selections. Seeing him slip into the late-teens meant that many onlookers felt Minnesota was picking up a tremendous talent at a point in the draft when he should have been long gone.
Discouragingly, the early days of his career weren’t anything to write home about.
As a rookie, Dallas Turner saw Greenard and Van Ginkel hog the spotlight. And based on playing time, Turner came in behind Patrick Jones and Jihad Ward. Being the backup to the backups is a humbling way to get one’s career started.
During the summer months of 2025, Turner got talked up as being akin to having a third starter along the edge. But then reality hit.
Greenard and Van Ginkel continued being the top options. When Van Ginkel needed time in the infirmary, the Vikings leaned on Turner with limited success. Off-ball linebacker Eric Wilson got shuffled up to edge rusher, at once a compliment for what the veteran can do alongside an indictment on what the sophomore had not been doing.
Put simply, Turner needed to be far better at shutting down the run and chasing down passers. Being outproduced by a veteran journeyman who spent the great majority of his previous playing time as an off-ball player was concerning.
Last weekend, Dallas Turner responded. He stuffed the stat sheet with 7 tackles, 1 sack, 3 quarterback hits, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 pass defended. He looked long and strong, precisely the attributes that made him so attractive on draft night.
Just consider the basics. Dallas Turner is listed at 6’3″ but he has long arms. And then there’s his 4.46 speed, a truly elite time for an edge rusher. Chasing down insanely-gifted passers like Lamar Jackson and Caleb Williams becomes a lot more plausible when the defense can send out a pass rusher who has near identical straight-line speed to Justin Jefferson (the receiver ran a 4.43).
At 22, Mr. Turner still has much to improve upon. The good news is simply that he’s improving in real time, showing up more and more on Sundays. I’ll be looking for him to continue proving me wrong.
