What Dallas Turner Needs for a Successful Year 2
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was busy in the 2024 NFL draft as he made several trades to move up and select J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick and Dallas Turner with the 17th overall pick. While McCarthy lost his rookie season to injury, Turner was frustrated for different reasons. A rookie campaign that never provided the buzz that the former Alabama edge rusher would have hoped for.
What Dallas Turner Needs for a Successful Year 2
Adofo-Mensah’s reputation in the draft needs one of his first-round picks, not named Jordan Addison, to start making a mark. The disaster that was his first draft as the Vikings general manager still hangs over him, but if McCarthy settles in as the Vikings QB1, Turner has an improved season, and this year’s first-round pick, Donovan Jackson, solves the left guard problem in Minnesota, Adofo-Mensah’s reputation would receive a considerable boost.
What would success look like for Turner in Year 2? It is doubtful that he will displace Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel — barring an injury — as the two main edge defenders in Brian Flores’ defense. That was part of the issue last season.
While Jared Verse, who was selected two picks after Turner by the Los Angeles Rams, had a fairly clear run to playing time, which ended up seeing Verse named the Defensive Rookie of the Year and voted to the Pro Bowl. Turner found himself behind two veterans who made it to the Pro Bowl and, in Van Ginkel’s case, named second-team All-Pro. Minnesota extended Van Ginkel after his excellent first season in purple, which leads many in the impatient world of the NFL to start using the bust label for Turner. We certainly aren’t there yet.
While waiting in the shadow of Greenard and Van Ginkel in his rookie season shouldn’t be a huge concern for Turner. He also found himself behind Patrick Jones, who had the best season of his career in 2024. Jones started the season on fire with five sacks in the first four games and ended the season with a total of seven as his production slowed down..
The good news for Turner is that Jones is gone, having signed a contract with the Carolina Panthers in free agency. That leaves the path clear for him to be the next man up at outside linebacker. Turner must seize that opportunity.
Hopes for 2025
The most recognizable way for Turner to improve is by boosting his stats from his rookie season, starting with playing time. Turner managed 300 snaps on defense last season from 16 games, which is just 28% of the possible defensive snaps he could have played. That is not enough. His season high of 50.7% came in Week 1, which then dropped to a season low of 4.2% by Week 8, when major concerns began to be raised. In the second half of the season, Turner’s snap count was in the 30-40% range as he carved out a rotational role on the defence.
There was a lot of talk about Turner struggling to pick up coach Flores’ notoriously difficult defensive schemes. However, Minnesota’s coaching staff always firmly believed in their guy. Allowing Jones to leave and not signing any other outside linebackers other than some undrafted free agents. Showcases the Vikings’ belief in the Alabama alumni to come good. With a full year in Minnesota behind us, there is no excuse for us not to see a much better 2025.
Turner did make a mark on his debut with his first career sack, but didn’t manage another one until Week 15. That’s far too long to wait for a talented pass rusher like Turner. He added his third and final sack of the season in Week 17 against Green Bay, as he finished his rookie year reasonably well and managed two of his four tackles for loss over the last four games. It laid the foundations for Turner to kick on in Year 2.
Turner also managed 12 pressures across the season, which was middle of the pack among edge defenders, and scored an overall grade from Pro Football Focus of 63.9 — also middle of the pack. His pass-rushing grade of 55.2 was disappointingly low.
What would constitute success in Year 2? Turner needs to get his snap count up above the 50% range, have at least five sacks, and show that he can get pressure on the opposing quarterback on a regular basis. The Vikings spent a lot of draft capital to acquire Turner, and they should want even more than that eventually, but for now, that would be a good next step.
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