How Dallas Turner fits in with the Minnesota Vikings

Dallas Turner wasn’t the first Alabama player taken in the 2024 NFL Draft. Instead, that was offensive tackle JC Latham. Turner also wasn’t a top-10 pick like many were projecting, but his brief fall only lasted until Minnesota at Pick No. 17. After just taking Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy at No. 11 overall, the Vikings traded up with the Jacksonville Jaguars to secure the former UA pass rusher.

Yes, it’s disappointing that Turner didn’t go a little higher, but he was still a premium pick who provided excellent value at the midway point of the first round. You also have to love the landing spot, as Minnesota was in desperate need of a replacement for longtime pass rusher Danielle Hunter, who signed a two-year, $49 million deal with DeMeco Ryans and the Houston Texans back in March.

Over his eight seasons with the franchise, Hunter racked up 87.5 sacks, including a career-high 16.5 in 2023. To make matters even worse, fellow Vikings pass rusher D.J. Wonnum, who finished second on the team in sacks last season with eight, signed with the Carolina Panthers earlier this offseason. Those decisions, along with defensive end Marcus Davenport signing on with the Detroit Lions, left Minnesota with a glaring hole regarding its exterior pass rush.

This is why Turner, who was widely considered a top-10 talent in this draft class, was a guy worth trading up for when he was still available at No. 17 overall. Really, the only reason the former five-star recruit was available came down to the unprecented run of offensive players (14-straight picks to start the draft) at the top. Sure, it was an unfortunate development for the Alabama defender, but he landed in a good spot with the Vikings.

Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores is entering his second season as the team’s defensive coordinator. Last year, he developed a new defensive scheme that often utilizes six-man fronts with varying zone coverages backing it up, and he was extremely aggressive with his blitz packages and how he uses second and third-level defenders to strain an offense’s blocking scheme. The approach favors the team’s top pass rusher, too.

Think about it.

Hunter had already been a successful, established pass rusher when Flores arrived in Minnesota. But under his new defensive play-caller, the former LSU sack arotation earned season-highs in tackles (83), sacks (16.5), forced fumbles (4) and stuffs (9). Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel were brought in to bolster the pass rush via free agency, and Greenard is coming off a career-high 12.5 sacks for the Texans. But Turner has a chance to emerge as this team’s primary pass rusher at some point in the future. We’ve already seen that player thrive in this system, too.

Turner fits exactly what Flores and company want in an edge, as his versatility to move around and align in different spots can help create some of the mismatches the team wants on Sundays. Soon after the pick was announced, Turner’s former head coach at Alabama Nick Saban, who is helping ABC with its draft coverage this weekend, shared his thoughts on the Florida native.

“This guy’s quiet, but he’s a great leader,” Saban said of Turner during the broadcast. “He sets a great example. He works hard every day in practice. He has position-flexibility. People keep comparing him to Will Anderson. He’s more like Dont’a Hightower. He went inside, he got outside, we stood him up, he’s a good rusher. He can take gaps inside. So I think the versatility is phenomenal.”

I wholeheartedly agree with the take. No, they’re not the same player, but Saban is comparing their versatility. The main difference is that Hightower was primarily an off-ball linebacker who could effortlessly move out on the edge in certain situations while Turner is primarily an on-ball edge player who can effortlessly slide off the ball in certain situations. That type of versatility in rare. Turner is a much better athlete than Hightower, but Hightower was more polished in his approach.

Former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick proved his defensive mastermind in how he utilized Hightower’s skill set on the NFL level, which led to a ton of success for both parties. Oh, and guess who spent 11 years in New England alongside Belichick as a defensive assistant, safeties coach and linebackers coach… Brian Flores, who is now Turner’s defensive coordinator. If anyone knows how to embrace and properly utilize Turner’s versatility as a defender, it’s Flores. Just something to think about.

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