Vikings roster preview: How much should be expected out of Dallas Turner as a rookie?

As we head toward a new season, Inside the Vikings is looking at each member of the 53-man roster to recap their 2023-24 season and look ahead to the upcoming campaign. Today, we focus on edge rusher Dallas Turner. Check out our past stories on each member of the offense , t he punter competition , kicker Will Reichard , the interior defensive linemen and edges Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel .

The Minnesota Vikings went into the start of this spring’s NFL Draft with two first-round picks, armed with more high-value capital to use in a trade up for a quarterback, if necessary. Instead, they not only got their quarterback, they also came out of Round 1 with edge Dallas Turner.

The second defensive player taken in the draft, Turner was seen by many as the best edge in the class, with some comparing him to his former teammate at Alabama, the 2023 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, Will Anderson Jr. Turner may have that potential, but he may not be ready to make that much of an immediate impact.

Pro Football Focus gave Turner an 81.6 overall grade in 2023 (35th among edges with at least 300 snaps), a 69.8 run defense grade (138th), an 89.3 pass-rushing grade (22nd) and an 81.0 coverage grade (17th) — good marks, except for the run grade. However, that was his breakout year, whereas Anderson had overall, run defense and pass-rushing rates each above 84 in his final two collegiate seasons.

That’s not a knock on Turner or an attempt to diminish his long-term outlook, but it may at least provide a guide for how much to expect out of him as a rookie.

What we know Turner should be able to do right away is rush the passer, especially on obvious passing downs.

The 17th overall pick had 55 pressures last season, tied for 14th among FBS edges. According to PFF, his pass-rush win rate was 19.6%, and he received a 90.9 pass-rush grade on true pass sets — factoring out play-action and things like rollouts — which ranked in the 87th percentile.

He’s still just 21 and has plenty of room for growth. Like most rookies, he’ll need to add strength and add deepen his bag of pass-rush moves. He’ll need to improve his tackling, as he missed 10 tackles last season and his 22.2% missed tackle rate was tied for the 57th-highest among edges in the FBS. Those tackling improvements will also help his run defense.

Plus, with Minnesota’s offseason additions of Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, Turner won’t have to start, although defensive coordinator Brian Flores will certainly find ways to use him and create pressure.

That’s a good place to start for Turner and the Vikings in his rookie season. Let him get after the quarterback, using his power-speed combo to create havoc. That alone would be a huge boon to a team that struggled to create pressure many times last season.

Then, it’ll be about his development. Turner’s potential is undoubtedly elite and there will surely be flashes of that. However, there will also likely be struggles as he adjusts to the league.

If he can stay healthy, get after quarterbacks and miss few tackles while making progress from Week 1 to Week 18, that’ll be a successful season for the rookie. From there, it’ll be about continued development to help mold that elite potential into an elite player.