With Van Ginkel out, Vikings believe Dallas Turner is ready to step up

The stage is set for the biggest opportunity of Dallas Turner's young NFL career on Sunday night.

Vikings All-Pro outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel remains in the concussion protocol and won't play against the Falcons. That means more work for Turner, who will step into the starting lineup on the other side of star Jonathan Greenard.

The Vikings believe he's ready. Turner had a strong offseason, by all accounts, and has put in the work to feel confident he can take on a major role for Brian Flores and play at a high level.

"I can promise you guys that my excitement for Dallas Turner, every time I've had a chance to talk with you since really the first day of the offseason program, has been real, it's been authentic, it's been genuine," head coach Kevin O'Connell said on Friday. "I'm so excited for him."

"There's a personal football journey that takes place with every player in the NFL. And the jump that he is currently experiencing and will continue to experience will be highlighted with Gink being out this week. But we have viewed it from Day 1 as three potential starters. Dallas will clearly take on a bigger role. That snap count's gonna go up this week and should stay up."

Through 17 career games, Turner's single-game high for snaps is still the 35 he received in his NFL debut against the Giants last year. He saw 29 in this season's opener against the Bears, which was 43 percent of the team's total defensive snaps. Turner had three tackles, two pressures, and a strong run-defense grade (from PFF) in that game in Chicago. He frequently aligned with his hand in the dirt at defensive end, which allowed Flores to get all three of his top OLBs on the field at once.

Dallas Turner, defensive end?

Brian Flores got his top 3 edges on the field at the same time -- putting Turner on the line (often hand down) with Van Ginkel outside or stacked behind as an OLB or off-ball LB

Turner was strong vs the run from this alignment, and got a pressure pic.twitter.com/MKQjYn1DE7
— Krauser (@Krauserrific) September 10, 2025

Talking this week, Flores said he wishes he would've played Turner even more.

"I thought he played very well last week," Flores said. "When I looked back and saw the snap counts, I was — not miffed, but I thought he played more. We should've got him in more. (We're) very confident in Dallas and think he's taken a lot of steps forward. He was confident last week, he played physical, he did a lot of good things. And we're gonna need that from him, regardless of who's here."

Turner, the 17th overall pick out of Alabama in last year's draft, is still just 22 years old. He only played around 300 defensive snaps as a rookie, as he was behind Greenard, Van Ginkel, and Pat Jones II on the depth chart. But even in a fairly quiet rookie season, he flashed his immense upside. Turner had four pressures against the Colts in early November, and then had a stretch from Weeks 15-17 where he had either a sack or an interception in three straight games.

Nasty move from Dallas Turner against Darnell Wright on his sack. Dip, bend, slide, explode to the QB. pic.twitter.com/QJJFN9LDOh
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) December 17, 2024

Everyone with the Vikings, from coaches to teammates, praised Turner's growth over the course of his first full NFL offseason. He looked the part in spring practices and throughout training camp. And now a major opportunity awaits him. Turner will assuredly set a new personal high in snaps on Sunday night. And because he's lining up next to guys like Greenard, Javon Hargrave, and Jonathan Allen, he should have some 1-on-1 reps against Falcons offensive linemen.

Adding to the excitement is that it's the home opener, in primetime, against an Atlanta team that was rumored to have significant interest in Turner last year before drafting Michael Penix Jr. instead. The runway is set for a potential breakout performance from No. 15 in purple.

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