Explosive Young Viking Will Ride Again as Starter
Minnesota Vikings outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard injured his shoulder in Week 15’s win at the Dallas Cowboys, needing a season-ending surgery for a full repair that will have him ready for the start of 2026. In the meantime, one explosive Viking will get a chance to shine in the remaining three games. That guy’s name is Dallas Turner.
Turner’s flashed all year in bursts, but a real snap load changes the conversation — this is where “nice sophomore” can turn into “problem for offenses.”
Turner is the next man up on the edges of the Vikings’ defensive line, and he will presumably get the start as soon as this Sunday at the New York Giants.
Starter Snaps Could Unlock Dallas Turner’s Breakout
Don’t look now, but Turner can bust out into stardom.
Greenard Out
Greenard’s season is cooked. ESPN’s Kevin Seifert announced Monday, “Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jonathan Greenard will miss the remainder of the season because of a left shoulder injury, coach Kevin O’Connell said Monday.”
“Greenard originally suffered the unspecified injury in Week 10. He missed two games and has played the Vikings’ past three games on a part-time basis, but he aggravated the injury during Sunday night’s 34-26 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Greenard is set to undergo surgery and should be at full strength by the start of next season. Greenard earned Pro Bowl honors in 2024 after signing a four-year, $72 million free agent contract with the Vikings.”
Most argue that Greenard is the Vikings’ very best defensive player, so Turner will have large shoes to fill, rest assured.
Turner In
There’s only one place to turn in Greenard’s stead — assuming defensive coordinator Brian Flores doesn’t do the thing again where he starts Eric Wilson at EDGE, as he did against the Packers a few weeks ago — and that’s to Turner.
Turner is hungry for more action, intermixing much more into the defense than he did in his rookie season. Last year, Greenard and his teammate, Andrew Van Ginkel, were too productive (they were Pro Bowlers) to bench, sidelining Turner for about 70% of all defensive snaps.
This year is different. Greenard and Van Ginkel have battled injuries, paving the way for Turner to see an increased workload. Along that road, Turner has blossomed, so it has all worked out.
In fact, this was the plan all along: employ Greenard and Van Ginkel to their fullest potential, and when they slow down or fall injured, well, the 1st-Rounder, Turner, waits to take over. The plan has worked.
2025 Campaign So Far
Turner has a 63.8 Pro Football Focus through 14 games, a decent mark for a sophomore EDGE at age 22 and a promising sign for 2026 and beyond.
He has also banked 28 solo tackles, which ranks eighth among all EDGEs. He’s forced 2 fumbles — also eighth-best in the NFL. And Turner has 32 quarterback pressures, 6 quarterback hits, 6 sacks, and 20 quarterback hurries.
Turner would also have a seventh sack rather easily if he hadn’t put his body weight on Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson last month. A roughing the passer penalty negated that sack.
Overall, the signs are these for Turner’s ascension. He has played 65% of all snaps in Flores’ defense, a noteworthy amount compared to 28% in 2024.
An Audition for a Starting OLB Job in 2026?
While Greenard and Van Ginkel are likely to return to the Vikings’ defense in 2026, an offseason never begins with complete certainty.
Facing salary cap limitations, there’s always a chance that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah trades Greenard or Van Ginkel to lessen the constraint on the cap, knowing he has Turner in the chamber ready to deploy for a full season’s worth of starter’s work.
If that were the case, Turner would be fully auditioning for the arrangement in the next three weeks, on deck to wreak havoc on Jaxson Dart, Jared Goff, and Jordan Love.
Turner’s moment is now. The guy directly in front of him on the depth chart cannot play. He must strut his stuff. If not now, when?
More Turner Perspective
The Viking Age‘s Adam Patrick opined on Turner this week, “Turner has already made plenty of strides in the right direction this season, so the Vikings’ final three games are a chance for him to get even more playing time in 2026.”
“When filling in for Greenard this year, Turner performed much better than he did when he started in place of Van Ginkel, since it allowed him to utilize his pass-rushing skills more often. So, with Greenard being the one Turner will be taking over for during the next three weeks, it’s fair to expect more of the same from the second-year edge rusher.”
Turner will turn 23 at the start of the offseason. Still a young buck.
Patrick concluded, “If Turner does well enough, it’s possible that it could even result in the Vikings potentially moving on from Greenard in the upcoming offseason. Minnesota can free up $12.4 million in cap space by releasing Greenard in 2026, and for a team that is currently projected to be more than $35 million over the salary cap to begin the upcoming offseason, a move like this is absolutely possible.”
The Vikings are favored to defeat the Giants by 1.5 points this Sunday.
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