Vikings ~ Turner Just Getting Started
His Vikings teammates swore this was coming.
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) September 17, 2026
They saw the work, the length, the urgency, the horsepower, the confidence.
Dallas Turner announced himself again Sunday, which is scary. Because, almost preposterously, he is still only 23:https://t.co/pZEtsJr2B7
Dallas Turner had the best game of his career. The Vikings think he’s just getting started
EAGAN, Minn. — Their facial expressions divulged the truth. Eyes widened. Heads shook in awe. The Minnesota Vikings defenders had seen something, and there was no more reason to pretend they didn’t.
These reactions came after two steamy days of joint practices between the Vikings and Baltimore Ravens, when Dallas Turner swooped around the edge with enough horsepower that he became impossible not to notice.
Hence, his teammates’ responses. Edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel nodded when asked whether Turner was making another leap. Linebacker Blake Cashman called him the team’s “closer.” When Turner’s name surfaced in an interview with interior defensive lineman Ty Ingram-Dawkins, he set his helmet on the ground.
“That boy had a great year last year,” Ingram-Dawkins said. “But I think he’s going to go All-Pro.”
When the hype surrounding a player is filled to the brim like this, it makes sense to pause and reassess at a later date. After Sunday’s season opener, the time to reassess is already here.
Turner submitted the best performance of his career in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers. His 10 quarterback pressures led all NFL pass rushers. Next Gen Stats tracks quick pressures, which represent the number of quarterback pressures a player accumulates within 2 1/2 seconds. Turner tallied seven, also a league high.
He hauled down Packers quarterback Jordan Love from behind. He bent and curved his way past Packers left tackle Jordan Morgan. When Turner sprang off the line of scrimmage and set up a pass-rush move, he maintained balance and leverage.
Veteran Vikings safety Harrison Smith missed Turner’s showcase during joint practices. Did he observe anything meaningful Sunday?
“I was lined up next to him a few times,” Smith said. “He’s so fast off the ball that I feel slow. I mean, he gets such a good jump. I can feel that.”
The advanced metrics validate Turner’s burst. It took him 0.72 seconds to cross the line of scrimmage after the ball was snapped in the game, according to Next Gen Stats, a figure that would have ranked second in the NFL in 2025 behind only Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.
Continued production like this creates all sorts of possibilities. Individual accolades are one thing. There is also the exponential effect that Turner’s trajectory could provide a defense that already causes major problems for opponents.
If other teams give their offensive tackles extra edge help, stress amplifies for interior offensive linemen facing exotic blitzes. Overset to take away Turner’s speed around the edge, and the door opens to even more space through various stunts.
These types of advantages are why former Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah made the massive swing to get Turner in the first round of the 2024 draft.
Minnesota crept up from No. 23 to No. 17 to make the selection, which came at the cost of a third-round pick, fourth-round pick and fifth-round pick. Factor in the trade for No. 23 before the draft began, and the Vikings included an extra second-rounder, too.
The final package heightened expectations. Turner, though, arrived as a 21-year-old needing a lengthy runway for refinement.
“He’s still young,” Vikings outside linebackers coach Thad Bogardus said this week. “There are rookies older than he is.”
Early on, Turner also contended with an unavoidable reality: Two Pro Bowlers, Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard, started in front of him.
“It’s not like you could just say, ‘Hey, we’re going to throw him there in a different spot,’” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “That’s not great for the development of a guy to get to where he is now.”
The metamorphosis occurred mostly away from the cameras. Throughout the 2024 season, Turner learned the intricacies of defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ system. That winter, he transformed his body. The last year allowed him to take even more physical and mental steps.
Turner worked on his pass-rush toolbag with Greenard. Like a big-league pitcher who realizes the importance of reliable secondary pitches once he reaches the majors, Turner began to conceptualize how to use his go-go-gadget length. Results blossomed in the back half of the 2025 season. And that brief taste of success, paired with a more complete understanding of what Flores’ defense aims to accomplish, inspired in Turner the most dangerous trait for a pass rusher: confidence.
He used his wins as multipliers. His objective became less about accumulating splash plays and more about recognizing the connective value of consistency.
“It’s like a basketball player who sees a shot fall, or a putter in golf who buries one,” Bogardus said. “You start to think the next one is going to go in. What we saw at the end of the 2025 season has carried over.”
So much so that Turner has begun to ascend within the Vikings locker room. O’Connell said Wednesday that when the players voted on team captains, Turner received a bevy of votes, which speaks to his day-to-day disposition on the practice field. Earlier this week, Flores told an anecdote about Turner approaching him after practice last week, asking if he seemed to be on the right track. Turner’s willingness to seek feedback underscored his pursuit.
Amid the abundance of praise, perhaps nobody understands Turner’s advancements better than Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw. The two battle every day. Darrisaw’s catalog of pass-rush foes gives him perspective.
Preparing for Turner’s pace occupies his mind before the snap, but Turner’s improved strength complicates his positioning.
“He is going to be really, really scary,” Darrisaw said.
Remember, Turner is almost two years younger than Los Angeles Chargers rookie edge rusher Akheem Mesidor. He is still only 23.
LIVE WELL ~ LOVE MUCH ~ LAUGH OFTEN
In today’s NFL, and life in general, people have shorter attention spans and less patience for development. If a young player doesn’t immediately produce at an All-Pro level, many are ready to move on.
Dallas Turner is a perfect example of why that mindset can be shortsighted.
Like Danielle Hunter, Turner is a freak athlete with rare physical tools. He’s explosive, long, fast, and has the kind of traits you simply cannot teach. But he’s also still developing as a pass rusher, learning counters, improving his instincts, and figuring out how to consistently turn pressure into production.
The important thing is that the flashes are there. And when those flashes become consistent, Turner has the ability to be a top-tier defensive end in this league.
Not every player develops on the same timeline. Sometimes the light bulb comes on gradually, and sometimes one year everything starts to click. The Vikings need to keep giving Turner opportunities, because the upside is enormous. You don’t give up on that kind of athletic ability just because the finished product hasn’t arrived yet.
If Turner continues to refine his game, we could be looking at a player who changes the way offenses have to approach this defense.
IceRatz16 wrote:
In today’s NFL, and life in general, people have shorter attention spans and less patience for development. If a young player doesn’t immediately produce at an All-Pro level, many are ready to move on.
Dallas Turner is a perfect example of why that mindset can be shortsighted.
Like Danielle Hunter, Turner is a freak athlete with rare physical tools. He’s explosive, long, fast, and has the kind of traits you simply cannot teach. But he’s also still developing as a pass rusher, learning counters, improving his instincts, and figuring out how to consistently turn pressure into production.
The important thing is that the flashes are there. And when those flashes become consistent, Turner has the ability to be a top-tier defensive end in this league.
Not every player develops on the same timeline. Sometimes the light bulb comes on gradually, and sometimes one year everything starts to click. The Vikings need to keep giving Turner opportunities, because the upside is enormous. You don’t give up on that kind of athletic ability just because the finished product hasn’t arrived yet.
If Turner continues to refine his game, we could be looking at a player who changes the way offenses have to approach this defense.
And the best part? He's the same age as most of this year's rookie class of Vikings, lol. 23 years old. His get-off speed is fastest in the NFL for 2025 (all players for last season) other than one player: Micah Parsons. Who's 27 years old BTW. He looked like a different player to me he was so good on Sunday. Dominating in a real way....like you see in the elite guys. Its early, and I said I'd have to see it for buy in earlier in the offseason, but he's special. He seems extremely confident out there.
IceRatz16 wrote:
In today’s NFL, and life in general, people have shorter attention spans and less patience for development. If a young player doesn’t immediately produce at an All-Pro level, many are ready to move on.
Dallas Turner is a perfect example of why that mindset can be shortsighted.
Like Danielle Hunter, Turner is a freak athlete with rare physical tools. He’s explosive, long, fast, and has the kind of traits you simply cannot teach. But he’s also still developing as a pass rusher, learning counters, improving his instincts, and figuring out how to consistently turn pressure into production.
The important thing is that the flashes are there. And when those flashes become consistent, Turner has the ability to be a top-tier defensive end in this league.
Not every player develops on the same timeline. Sometimes the light bulb comes on gradually, and sometimes one year everything starts to click. The Vikings need to keep giving Turner opportunities, because the upside is enormous. You don’t give up on that kind of athletic ability just because the finished product hasn’t arrived yet.
If Turner continues to refine his game, we could be looking at a player who changes the way offenses have to approach this defense.
If Turner keeps on his current trajectory, or at least close to it, Flores' job just got so much easier. Watching DT bull rush that OT was beautiful. Then blowing by a TE and OT untouched.
As to your point about patience. I remember many people wishing we had Verse because of the impact he had as a rookie. Where has he gone? They had to trade for Garrett. Packers had to give up a lot for a much older and now injured Parsons.
Yeah, I am very excited to watch Turner, especially in a Flores D.
My hope, my dream is that Banks ends-up being that interior pass rusher we really haven't had consistently for too long now.
Pair that with someone like a DT, Redmond, AVG, Golday (in the future?)
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
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