Dallas Turner Gets Another Big Opportunity to Impress Vikings in Week 4

The Minnesota Vikings had their eyes on pass rusher Dallas Turner when the 2025 NFL season began. One year after the Alabama product turned head coach Kevin O’Connell into a meme on draft night, Turner was looking to rebound from a disappointing rookie year where he learned behind edge rushers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel.

With the free-agent duo establishing themselves in starting roles, there haven’t been many opportunities for Turner to validate his potential and the cost it took to trade up for him. A door finally opened over the past two weeks when Van Ginkel was out due to a concussion, and Turner may get another opportunity after his veteran teammate was ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a neck injury.

Dallas Turner’s Breakout Must Continue with Andrew Van Ginkel Sidelined

The Vikings confirmed that Van Ginkel will miss Sunday’s game after failing to practice this week. While Van Ginkel’s injury has some long-term concerns after the Vikings signed him to a one-year, $23 million contract extension last spring, it may benefit Minnesota in the short term as Turner gets an expanded role.

Turner was considered one of the top edge rushing prospects in the 2024 draft, but started falling after a run on offensive players. The Vikings, who had already traded with the Houston Texans for a second-round pick in search of a quarterback in that draft, made the aggressive move to send the No. 23 overall pick, their 2024 fifth-round pick, and a 2025 third-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars to land Turner with the 17th overall selection.

The payoff didn’t come right away as Turner had three sacks and an interception but just 12 pressures on 151 pass-rushing snaps in his rookie season, according to Pro Football Focus. Turner also got off to a slow start this season, managing just two pressures in the opener against the Chicago Bears and two more pressures and a sack in the loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Having said that, he did see a jump in his pressure rate (7.9% in his rookie season to 20.4% this season) and pass-rush win rate (11.9% this season from 6.3% last season), building promise for the future.

It all came together in last week’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Turner led the team and set a career-high with five pressures and was a consistent force, logging a 16.7% win rate, and it drew a rave review from The Athletic’s Alec Lewis.

“I thought Dallas Turner, going back through the film, played his best game in a Vikings uniform,” Lewis said during his podcast on Tuesday. “And it wasn’t always the flash, sack, long arm, bend and dip around the tackle, but it was constant pressure. He was physical in the run game... A great sign to see him, hopefully start to come on.”

The Steelers presented a great opportunity for Turner to continue his momentum as their offensive line was 22nd in PFF’s offensive line rankings ahead of Week 4. Broderick Jones is another matchup to take advantage of as he’s allowed nine quarterback pressures and is tied for the league lead with four sacks in the first three weeks.

All of this creates a perfect storm for Turner’s breakout and could give him the chance to live up to the potential that Vikings fans desperately want him to show.

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