Kevin O’Connell Expects His Rookie to Be Ready for the Big Stage
The Minnesota Vikings are preparing for perhaps the most significant regular season game in NFL history. It will be a rematch between the Lions and the Vikings following their Week 7 contest that was decided by two points and left neutral fans in awe.
Kevin O’Connell Expects His Rookie to Be Ready for the Big Stage
Minnesota will be shorthanded. Pass rusher Patrick Jones will miss his second game this year due to a knee injury suffered against the Green Bay Packers.
His absence will directly lead to more reps for rookie Dallas Turner. His head coach, Kevin O’Connell, expects him to be ready for the biggest game of his NFL career.
To me, looking at not only snap counts but actual impactful plays, Dallas has had a pretty significant role here for the better part of this nine-game run we’ve been on. Felt his play style, energy, athleticism. And that’s normal for a guy, especially at that position, as his rookie season has gone on. I expect DT to be flying around. He’s played in some big games before, so this will be nothing to him.
Indeed, the defender has made an impact recently, collecting two sacks in the last three games and catching an interception against Geno Smith.
Whenever he is on the field, good things can happen. His problem is that both guys ahead of him, Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, have played a Pro Bowl season, and sending them to the sidelines more often than necessary would be a bad trade-off.
The 21-year-old has appeared in 15 of the team’s 16 games (he missed one contest early in the season with a minor knee injury), playing 275 defensive snaps and 214 on special teams.
O’Connell mentioned his experience with big games, and he surely had some of those at Alabama. In his three seasons with the Crimson Tide, Turner registered 22.5 sacks, including ten in his final campaign.
The intriguing element is his remarkable athleticism. He ran a 4.46 40-yard dash in the pre-draft process, and the Vikings invested significant draft capital to bring the young player to the Twin Cities.
After the draft, Flores compared him to a former versatile star defender he worked with when he was the Patriots’ linebacker coach: “The name that comes to mind, and he was another Alabama player, is Dont’a Hightower. Big, fast, physical, great traits and intangibles, leadership. That’s the name that comes to mind. I would say he’s probably a little faster than Hightower.”
So far, Flores has used him in numerous different ways. His versatility allows him to play in coverage and as a rusher, which makes it impossible for the defense to forge a plan for him.
Turner needs more time to fully develop into his best self but the last few weeks were a good start. His next opportunity to make game-changing plays will come on Sunday and he should get some extra plays.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
Vikings Rule Out 1 Player, 2 Questionable
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt