‘Bottle of explosion’ — Jonathan Greenard confirms suspicion why the Minnesota Vikings traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles
One of the biggest concerns with the Minnesota Vikings this offseason was the future of Jonathan Greenard. They ended up trading him to the Philadelphia Eagles during the NFL Draft, setting the course of the next few years for the Vikings. Their defense looks significantly different now without him. That in itself is a fascinating […]
One of the biggest concerns with the Minnesota Vikings this offseason was the future of Jonathan Greenard.
They ended up trading him to the Philadelphia Eagles during the NFL Draft, setting the course of the next few years for the Vikings. Their defense looks significantly different now without him.
That in itself is a fascinating topic, because edge rusher is now an issue for the Vikings. With Greenard now off the team, it’s all about the future at edge rusher, and we got a glimpse of that this past year.
Minnesota Vikings Trade Of Jonathan Greenard
- After weeks of speculation, the Vikings sent Greenard to the Philadelphia Eagles with pick 244 for pick 98 and a 2027 third-round pick.
- The trade elevates Dallas Turner to a full-time starting role, which he proved he’s ready for.
- The Minnesota Vikings no longer have solid depth at the position, with Bo Richter and Chaz Chambliss one injury away from seeing major snaps.
Jonathan Greenard praises Dallas Turner
The biggest reason for the trade, other than salary cap space, was the emergence of Dallas Turner. Greenard made an appearance on Green Light with Chris Long and heaped all kinds of praise onto Turner.
“Next person up now is, I’m gonna say it now: Dallas Turner. When he’s on and he’s dialed in on the game plan, the kid is a bottle of explosion. The guy is literall a 4.4 (40-yard dash) guy, and he’s only just breaking the surface of how he’s going to be in this league, but that’s who I’m taking care of next. You know, I’m watching real close. I’m still going to be talking to him the same way, like, listen, XYZ has to happen or this is not going to happen. Just the little, small things you got to have when you’re dealing with a young guy like that, because they don’t know as much as they are mature when you talk to them, you talk to good game, they still don’t know what they don’t know yet. And I think that’s the part where he’s going to take this big, big step. You see him kind of do a little bit towards the last season, and now this point shoot, I said it’s time. Now it’s your time to show team. You need to go ahead and make that happen. So I’ll be looking real close for him, and I know it’s gonna get done because the boy a dog too.”
Eagles edge rusher Jonathan Greenard
Turner emerged in a big way when asked to play the role of Turner. He notched a team high 8.0 sacks and finished second in pressures with 42. What stood out with Turner wasn’t the flash plays, it was how his baseline of success significantly improved. He needed to add a lot of core strength after his first season and he did just that.
Turner is going into his age 23 season and is primed to have a massive breakout, something that many believed he would have already had. One thing to remember: they took Turner over Jared Verse for this reason. He’s theoretically going to be better than Verse was as a 24-year-old rookie one year before he approaches that age.
We can talk about it until we are blue in the face, but it hits different when his teammate of the last two years says so.
