The Minnesota Vikings were so good at a couple of positions last year that they legitimately couldn’t get some of their young talent on the field as much as those players deserved, but the franchise is poised to change that in 2025.
Perhaps the best example of this issue was rookie edge Dallas Turner. The No. 17 overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft out of Alabama, Turner profiled as a player the Vikings would lean on hard. However, the team was so successful with its free-agent signings of Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel that the tandem of pass rushers relegated Turner to a minimal rotational role.
Turner finished the year with 300 defensive snaps under his belt, which represented 28% of the overall number the defense played. He also lined up on 226 special teams snaps (53% of the team total), per Pro Football Reference.
Despite limited opportunities, Turner appeared in 16 of 17 regular-season games and tallied five quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, three sacks, one pass breakup and one interception.
Geenard and Van Ginkel are both back in 2025 and will presumably start, which means Turner will still be the No. 3 edge on the depth chart heading into Week 1 against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on the September 8 season-opening edition of “Monday Night Football.”
However, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said earlier this offseason that the intention of himself and defensive coordinator Brian Flores is to get Turner on the field more and to maximize his talent in the context of their defense.
In turn, several analysts have predicted a big jump from Turner in Year 2.
Kevin O’Connell Has Announced Intention to Play Dallas Turner More in 2025
GettyHead coach Kevin O’Connell of the Minnesota Vikings.
O’Connell talked about Turner over draft weekend with radio host Rich Eisen of NFL Network.
“I hope people haven’t forgotten about Dallas Turner,” O’Connell Eisen on April 26. “[He’s] really a guy I’m expecting a huge jump from Year 1 to Year 2. He really started to come on as the season went on last year. It’s a tough group, tough lineup to crack when you’ve got those top two guys playing the way that they were.”
Greenard and Van Ginkel finished the 2024 campaign with 12 sacks and 11.5 sacks, respectively. Both were Pro Bowlers for the first time in their careers, and Van Ginkel picked up second-team All-Pro honors as well — also for the first time.
Vikings Face Sense of Urgency to Use Dallas Turner More Frequently in Year 2
GettyEdge rusher Dallas Turner of the Minnesota Vikings.
Andrew Harbaugh of USA Today’s Vikings Wire was the latest in a line of analysts who predicted a monster breakout from Turner this season.
“Plain and simple, Dallas Turner needs to find his way onto the field more in 2025 and having a strong training camp can secure that,” Harbaugh wrote on July 16. “While the edge rushers for the team are the Pro Bowl duo of Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard, he can at least carve out a rotational role, just as others have in deeper pools at the position. … What cannot [happen] is another season where Brian Flores cannot use [Turner] after the team traded up to get him in last year’s draft.”
Turner has three years remaining on his $15.77 million rookie contract, so now is the time for the Vikings to ramp up his role. The team will have its first opportunity to do so when it opens training camp later this month.
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