Future of the Vikings, part 5: The defensive line (and OLBs)
Looking at the growth of Dallas Turner and whether the DT room will remain the same
Dallas Turner’s improvement
The reason you should always be patient with young players is that they sometimes need a little time before turning a corner.
Things weren’t looking particularly promising for the Vikings’ 2024 first-round draft pick midway through his second season. Through his first 25 games, Turner only registered 4.5 sacks and played 40% of defensive snaps. He hadn’t graded particularly well by PFF during the open to the 2025 season as he attempted to fill the shoes of the ultra-dynamic Andrew Van Ginkel.
But when Van Ginkel returned and Turner got opportunities to take Jonathan Greenard’s spot due to injury, something clicked. Over his final eight games of 2025, the ex-Alabama star registered 6.5 sacks while playing nearly 70% of total snaps.
If we look deeper into the second half of his sophomore year, Turner’s underlying numbers really pop. Out of 48 starting edge rushers, he was 7th in Pass Rush Productivity (which is pressures per snap weighted for sacks), 12th in pass-rush win rate and 10th in pass rush grade in passing situations.
After a rough start to the season as an edge setter, Turner graded 12th in run defense grade from Week 11 on as well.
It appeared to be clear that he was a better fit for a pure pass-rushing role with the occasional coverage snap rather than being used in a dynamic AVG-like role. It’s also possible that Turner would have put together a more complete season if AVG hadn’t gotten injured because he spent the entire training camp preparing for a rotational spot and some plays with three OLBs and then was thrust into a different role instantly.
Van Ginkel is an ultra unique player who crafted his talents over a number of years in the NFL. Turner will turn 23 this offseason.
The question surrounding the gifted young edge player is how the Vikings take advantage of his skills going forward and ensure that he continues on this ascending path. The final halves of seasons do not always predict future results.
With Brian Flores returning, it helps the chances of Turner picking up where he left off. Other teams with multiple rushers will use them in rotational roles, which is what we should expect to see with Greenard/AVG/Turner. Flores also will have an opportunity to get creative with Van Ginkel and move him into a linebacker spot whenever he feels necessary.
A tougher year for Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel
Greenard and Van Ginkel were a revelation in 2024 with the former Texan racking up 12.0 sacks in his first year in Minnesota and Van Ginkel making second-team All-Pro with 11.5 sacks and two pick-sixes.
In 2025, neither player’s follow-up act was exactly the same. They each dealt with injuries and both finished with only 12 games played.
Greenard’s season was funky because he was terrific by every metric except sacks. Among all rushers with at least 250 snaps, he ranked 16th in PFF grade, 13th in Pass Rush Productivity and 13th in pass-rush win rate. Despite missing six games, Greenard’s 47 total QB pressures were more than TJ Watt and only a few behind Brian Burns, Montez Sweat and DeMacus Lawrence and tied with Joey Bosa. Just two years ago, he had 48 totals and got 12.5 sacks in Houston.
That’s how it goes sometimes with sacks, especially when opportunities for the QB to hold the ball for a long time are limited by game situations. The Vikings faced the fewest pass attempts in the NFL in 2025.
Van Ginkel was his typical self when he was healthy, racking up 7.0 sacks and leading all edge rushers in coverage snaps while grading an 81.5 in coverage by PFF. He also batted down five passes and had three pass breakups.
That doesn’t really begin to cover all of what Van Ginkel did for the defense. The difference between him being on the field and off was immense. He sets edges, masters in deception and communication with the rest of the coverage unit. It’s hard to put any number on all of that.
Speaking of that, in terms of contracts, Greenard is set to carry a $21 million cap hit in 2026 but a restructure could chop $13 million off that number, per OverTheCap. The Vikings could also look to extend their rusher, whose deal runs out after 2027.
Van Ginkel signed an extension last offseason. His contract is also up for restructure to save the Vikings cap space. It’s tougher to give AVG another extension because of his age and injury last season but he’s certainly worth the bet if they want to try to make him a Viking for the rest of his career.
Outside linebacker depth?
This isn’t going to be a particularly long section.
The Vikings entered 2025 without any experienced depth behind their three starters and it showed in the snap counts. The other edge players outside of Greenard, AVG and Turner to play any snaps this season were Bo Richter (53 snaps), Tyler Batty (42 snaps), Chaz Chambliss (25 snaps) and Gabriel Murphy (5 snaps). That’s the list.
While they didn’t need these players much because Turner was able to take all of the Greenard and AVG snaps when those guys were hurt, one extra player would have gone a long way in terms of preserving the rotation.
Backup edge should be a priority in 2025, most likely in the form of a veteran free agent rotational rusher.
(It’s worth noting that Eric Wilson spent a significant portion of his snaps at outside linebacker. He will be covered more in depth in the next part of our series looking at LBs).
Is Jalen Redmond a star?
One thing about missing the playoffs that’s unfortunate is that everyone quickly forgets the good parts about a season. Jalen Redmond was one of those good parts.
The UDFA who worked his way up through the NFL via the UFL jumped from a small role in 2024 to a whopping 793 snaps in 2025. And he was more than up to the task.
Redmond ranked as PFF’s 19th best defensive tackle out of 90 players with at least 400 snaps. He was the ninth highest graded player against the run and produced 36 QB pressures. That’s one pressure fewer than $25 million/year DT Milton Williams and No. 5 overall pick Mason Graham, by the way.
Was this just a fluke? Probably not since Redmond’s small sample 2024 was excellent as well and Brian Flores will be returning to use him in an advantageous role again in 2026.
Redmond is an Exclusive Rights Free Agent this offseason. That gives the Vikings the right to give him a qualifying offer of the league minimum but we can likely expect a longer term extension for the disruptive 27-year-old DT.
Will they keep Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen?
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