Ex-NFL General Manager Has High Expectations for Minnesota Vikings Rookie

The Minnesota Vikings may have landed one of the steals of the 2024 NFL Draft.

After trading up to select Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings plucked former Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner with the No. 17 overall selection.

Turner has widely been heralded as one of the premier pass-rushers in this year’s draft class and should soften some of the blow this season and beyond from the Vikings losing Danielle Hunter in free agency.

Last season in Tuscaloosa, Turner posted a career-high 10 sacks, 14.5 tackles for loss, and looks like the caliber of player capable of making an immediate impact at the NFL level.

Former NFL GM Predicts Minnesota Vikings’ Dallas Turner Wins Defensive Rookie of The Year

A prolific and disruptive edge rusher, former NFL general manager Mike Tannenbaum lists Turner as his pick to take home the 2024 Defensive Rookie of The Year Award.

“Turner will have a lot of pass-rushing opportunities,” Tannenbaum writes for ESPN. “Which I believe he will take advantage of. I thought he should have gone as high as No. 8 to Atlanta because he has the double-digit sack total ability.”

 

As Pro Football Focus points out, Turner added 33 quarterback pressures last season while posting an elite 19.6 pass-rush win-rate, one of the highest grades in this year’s class.

If Turner’s game can translate, after logging 22.5 sacks through three seasons as a starter for the Crimson Tide, the Vikings are going to boast a worthy counter-punch in the front seven to the elite quarterbacks such as Jordan Love and Caleb Williams who now reside in the NFC North.