Dallas Turner is getting the little things
The Vikings' second-year pass rusher has developed significantly in Year 2 and leads the team in sacks
By Matthew Coller
EAGAN — Dallas Turner likes to recite lessons from his coaches.
When he first arrived in Minnesota, defensive coordinator Brian Flores provided him with some words of wisdom that he’s been thinking about a lot lately.
“To get to the splash plays and the things everybody likes, the glamourous stuff, you have to get gritty first,” Turner said, quoting Flores. “You have to get down and dirty in order to get sexy.”
Over the last four weeks, Turner has done both the “down and dirty” and “sexy” stuff. He has 4.0 sacks, two forced fumbles, the ninth best pass-rush grade by PFF, the eighth most run stops and -5 yards allowed on four throws into his coverage.
The recent production has him thinking about some sage advice from his college coach.
“During my college career I learned a lot from coach Saban and that was one of the things that he told me, just being level-headed and not paying too much attention to the rat poison,” Turner said, referencing Nick Saban’s famous phrase referring to players eating up too much of their own praise or criticism from media.
While he might not want to pay much mind to the headlines that he’s been creating with his recent performances, most impressively a two-sack showing against Seattle, Turner has been focusing a lot on Flores’ dirty-work credo.
“It’s the splash plays that everybody says, ‘OK now he’s starting to figure it out,’ but I think it’s a lot of the little things that aren’t as splashy, that he’s also doing well,” Flores said. “I think that’s where his focus has got to be because when you do those little things, normally the big place show up and that’s really what it’s been. I say this, I feel like I say this every year: You have a 10-sack season… there’s a thousand snaps in the season. So what do on those other 990 snaps?”
What are those ‘little things’ exactly? Turner explained:
“Setting edges, playing the run, taking on a double team to set somebody else up and just playing within the scheme of the defense,” Turner said. “From physicality to reading your keys and what you have in front of you. That leads to splash plays and turnovers.”
Turner’s development story has been particularly compelling because the Vikings used oodles of draft capital to move up in the 2024 draft to select him rather than waiting to pick other rushers, indicating that they saw him as a particularly excellent fit for their defense. In his rookie season, he only picked up 3.0 sacks and played 28.1% of snaps.
Then, over the first nine games of 2025, he only picked up 1.5 sacks despite playing 60% of snaps or more in six of the first seven games.
During a large portion of that stretch, he was trying to fill the shoes of outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, whose role was uniquely crafted for his multi-dimensional skillset that took many years to hone. That role included a lot more dropping in coverage.
When Van Ginkel returned and pure edge rusher Jonathan Greenard went down with a shoulder injury, Turner found himself in a position to pin his ears back more often. Between Week 2-5, he was in coverage 38 times. The last four weeks? Just 17.
“He’s had to really play both of those spots throughout the year, which I know it’s listed as ‘outside linebacker’ on our depth charts but those two guys play totally different positions,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “The instinctual asks of Van Ginkel and the playmaking and the versatility and the explosion of Jonathan Greenard getting off the ball. He’s had to do both those things.”
His role has been part of the recent production. Also the team facing the third fewest pass attempts in the NFL likely held back his sack and pressure numbers. He had one sack against the Packers in just eight rushes as Green Bay killed the clock with their running game.
But also, sometimes young, talented players just get better. Turner is the ripe old age of 22 and won’t turn 23 until the season is over.
Edge rusher, in particular, has been a position historically that takes most players who aren’t picked inside the top five more time than other spots. That is particularly true when the player isn’t physically overpowering.
“Pass rushers, young ones, when their skill set might not just be flat-out power, it takes some guys a little bit of time because because the tackles you’re facing every Sunday in the NFL… they have seen it all, they’ve studied your go-to move, so you have to have a counter,” O’Connell said.
During the offseason, Turner spent time working with Greenard in an effort to prepare his body to play a 17-game season. Back in the spring, Greenard predicted a breakout year for the former ‘Bama rusher. Speaking with Purple Insider on Friday, Greenard said that he “knew this was coming” from Turner.
“I was telling him, I was in your same shoes, I didn’t get much [production] until I was in my second year when I could just play ball and use the stuff I was working on from my rookie year,” Greenard said. “A lot of times you just have to trust and understand that your moves are going to work. That stuff you’ve been practicing the whole time, it’s going to work. He’s seeing that now.”
What has Greenard seen in the last few weeks that’s different? I asked him if it was one particular play that stood out as proof that Turner is getting it.
“It’s not one play but more the energy after plays,” Greenard said. “It looks like, ‘yeah, I know I’m supposed to do this.’ It’s like, ‘I belong here.’ The comfort of being like, this is nothing more than what we did in practice. I’m more excited to see that because the aspect of thinking is out the door, now he can just go. It’s clicking. Can’t be more proud of him.”
Of course, four games does not make Turner the next great Vikings pass rusher. A strong finish to the season is vital for Turner and for the team’s future to give them confidence that they have another difference maker in the pass rush game going into 2026 and beyond.
“This is only the start for him,” Greenard said. “We’re not accepting nothing less, he’s not accepting nothing less. We have five more opportunities and I expect him to have an impact in every single game.”
Nice work by Turner. It's so hard to be patient with players. We all want instant greatness.