Concerns Are Mounting Over Another Pricey Vikings Draft Pick
The Minnesota Vikings may be in some trouble when it comes to one of their recent high-priced draft picks.
It’s a familiar spot for Minnesota as we’ve seen the team whiff on a few early-round picks over the past few years (Lewis Cine, Andrew Booth, Ed Ingram, Brian Asamoah). Luckily, it’s been able to cancel out with some strong undrafted additions and free agency periods.
This time around, though, the Vikings may have the priciest bust on their hands that they’ve had in quite some time.
Concern Over a Pricey Vikings Draft Pick
The concern is with Dallas Turner, who the Vikings selected with the 17th overall pick back in 2024. Teams never want to see picks that high not pan out, but the price tag that Minnesota set for Turner was even steeper.
Minnesota traded not once but twice to get into that position. Their first trade came before the draft began, trading Nos. 42 and 188 as well as their 2025 second-round pick to the Houston Texans to move up to No. 23.
Then, they sent Nos. 23 and 167 as well as their 2025 third-round and fourth-round picks to the Jacksonville Jaguars to move up to No. 17 and select Turner.
So in total, the Vikings not only used a first-round pick to get Turner, but they also moved two second-round picks, a third-round pick, a fourth-round pick, a fifth-round pick, and a sixth-round pick in order to move up high enough to acquire him.
We all know Turner did not play much for being a first-round pick in 2024, but much of that could be attributed to some significant depth at the outside linebacker position, headlined by Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel.
Of course, both of those names are still around in 2025, but Turner was expected to take a jump this season as both Patrick Jones and Jihad Ward left the team during the offseason.
That jump hasn’t exactly happened. Turner has started five games this year but still has just three tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks to his name. More concerning, he saw his snaps fall off in a big way this past weekend when Van Ginkel returned to the lineup from injury.
After playing 50+ snaps in three of the past four games, Turner was on the field on the defense for just 14 snaps in Week 9. It was easily his season-low.
Of course, Week 9 also resulted in one of the better defensive efforts we’ve seen from the Vikings this season. Now, the Vikings have another tough test waiting for them in Week 10 as they play host to the Baltimore Ravens.
We’ll see if Turner gets a few more snaps heading into that game.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Reference.
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