‘He’s working really hard at it’ — Brian Flores praises emerging defensive star who has broken out with massive performances in recent weeks
Dallas Turner is emerging into a superstar on defense, and it’s because his process has significantly improved this season.
The Minnesota Vikings have been heavily criticized for their NFL Draft record under general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. The 2022 NFL Draft is the main source of criticism, as the Vikings only have fifth-round pick Ty Chandler and sixth-round pick Jalen Nailor.
The other big area of major criticism has been the selection of edge rusher Dallas Turner. The Vikings moved up from 23rd overall to 17th overall by trading a fifth-round pick, along with future third and fourth-round picks. Some will equate the trade of two second-round picks to move up from 42nd overall to 23rd overall to the selection of Turner, but that was a much different move, as the Vikings were trying to load up on capital to trade up for a quarterback potentially. They did make a serious offer to acquire Drake Maye.
Because of his lack of production so far in his career, there has been a ton of criticism for the selection. Well, things have started to change over the last few weeks.
Dallas Turner is breaking out in a big way
Over the last four weeks, Turner has compiled 13 pressures and 4.0 sacks, and that’s not including the sack he “earned” against the Baltimore Ravens that was called back due to the bodyweight rule. He’s been good all season, and has been building up his foundation.
So far this season, Turner has played 517 snaps in the first 12 games, including playing over 50 snaps in five games, with just one of those having Jonathan Greenard out due to injury. The lack of splash plays were a big factor in how he was viewed. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores was asked about Turner and raved about his growth in the simple things.
“I think he’s made improvements since he got here. With young players, everybody wants it right now. And I think if you look at rookies over, I don’t know how much time, it rarely happens that way,” said Flores on Tuesday. “It takes time to learn the defense, to learn techniques and fundamentals, to learn the things that you do well individually. Because I think every player has to play to their strengths. I think Dallas is starting to figure that out. I think he’s really working hard at it.”
Sunday’s game is where we started to see those splash plays hit in a big way. He was the first player in Vikings history since 2003 to have two strip sacks in a game. Lance Johnstone and Kenny Mixon did it in Week 17 of the 2003 season against the Arizona Cardinals (the Nate Poole game).
The second one was more of a busted protection on the tight end, deciding to cross the face of Turner and double-team Javon Hargrave. It still counts, and Turner gets credit for the sack, however, he really deserves credit for the strip.
However, the first one was a great win against Charles Cross, one of the better young left tackles in the NFL. He’s so fast around the corner that his rip move doesn’t even land.
This season, Turner has 31 pressures on 202 pass rush reps, which is a 15.35% pressure rate. That is a fantastic place to be for a player at just 22 years old. He only has one go-to move, and that’s multiple variations of speed-to-power.
“I think it’s the splash plays that everybody’s says, ‘Okay, 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, and I think that’s where his focus has got to be, because when you do those little things, normally, the big plays show up,” said Flores.
That’s a big part of the conversation on Turner. He has done such a good job of improving his baseline of play. The only time he gets displaced is when players are on the move, either in motion or pulling, but in one-on-one blocks, he does a good job of standing his ground.
“I feel like I say this every year, you have the 10 sack season, but there are 1000 snaps in the season. So what’d you do on those other 990 snaps?” continued Flores. “When you put it in those terms, it’s a very small percentage that oftentimes you’re judged on. And [with] Dallas, those are showing up positive in a positive way, and we love them, but he’s doing a lot of the little things well, too. He’s still developing. He’s still young and but he’s moving and certainly moving in the right direction.”
The little things are adding up with Turner, and the Vikings have a young foundational piece to build upon with their defense.