EAGAN — As the Minnesota Vikings were finalizing a contract extension for Christian Darrisaw, head coach Kevin O’Connell eagerly laid out a vision for the rising star left tackle and his long-term potential to help elevate the entire offense.
The more immediate task — and benefit to the team — has presented itself in each steamy practice during training camp: testing Dallas Turner.
The Vikings have big plans for their new edge rusher, the 17th overall pick in the draft out of Alabama who has the potential to make as much of a first-year impact as anyone in the NFL’s rookie class. That of course includes quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the more heralded but less refined first-rounder the Vikings added during a pivotal offseason for their competitive trajectory and the parallel careers of O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah entering their third year together.
“Dallas loves football, so every day is a new day. He always has a smile on his face, but it’s not a smile that I would recommend taking as giddy or taking things lightly. It’s a smile that he has bad intentions to do some things on a daily basis,” O’Connell said this week. “It’s one that I’m OK seeing because I get to wear a whistle and a polo shirt.”
Darrisaw has been giving Turner regular lessons in professional pass protection, but Turner has had plenty of moments himself to shine under the afternoon sun at the TCO Performance Center.
“He’s going to be a great rusher, and every day we’re making each other better,” Darrisaw said. “He’s a smart kid. He wants it all, and you can tell every day he comes out here giving his all.”
Darrisaw has taken a liking to Turner, who’s listed at 6-foot-3 and 247 pounds, and he’ll often pull the 21-year-old aside as they walk off the field to compare notes on technique and strategy. Turner isn’t shy about offering tips, either.
“Just stacking days. You know it ain’t going to be perfect, but day by day, you’re going to get a little ‘dub,’ a little sack, which is nice,” Turner said. “We’re working every day, grinding, talking, learning.”
Turner’s father, Delon Turner, was a basketball player who left Florida A&M in 1993 as the program’s second-leading scorer and played the sport for 11 years overseas. Delon Turner worked on Wall Street and in wealth management before founding a venture capital firm, 7even Hills, in which Dallas Turner became an investor in while in college with some of his name, image and likeness money.
Turner grew up in the Miami area and first fell in love with pass rushing as a freshman at American Heritage High School, where his coach, former NFL star Pat Surtain, initiated the switch from wide receiver. Add all that background up, and the maturity and savviness that Turner carries himself with become clear attributes along with the obvious drive on the field.
“You kind of forget sometimes that he’s a rookie, just knowing the amount of information from, really, day one. I think we knew he was smart. We knew he had been coached well, but then you get him here and you get him in the meeting room setting and you see how well he’s handling not only basic installations that most rookies are asked to do, but you’re hearing him ask some questions that are very telling about where he’s able to go,” O’Connell said.
The third defensive player taken in the draft, after the quarterbacks and wide receivers dominated the top of the board, Turner has given defensive coordinator Brian Flores plenty of options for using him in the blitz-heavy scheme. With free agent signings Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, the Vikings have significantly remodeled their pass rush following the departure of star Danielle Hunter and fellow edge rushers D.J. Wonnum and Marcus Davenport.
“I want to give a shoutout to the University of Alabama for just coaching me and building me into the player I am today. Pass rushing wasn’t the first priority at the school I went to, so we had to learn how to do a whole bunch of other things, like stop the run, drop back in coverage, guard people and be physical, more importantly,” Turner said. “I feel like a lot of that stuff translated over to the NFL.”
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