NFL Analysis
4/25/24
5 min read
Dallas Turner NFL Draft 2024: Combine Results, Scouting Report For Minnesota Vikings Edge
The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Dallas Turner.
Dallas Turner'S 2024 NFL COMBINE RESULTS
- Height: 6'2 3/4"
- Weight: 247 lbs
- 40-Time: 4.47
- 10-Yard Split: 1.54
- Vertical: 40.5"
- Broad Jump: 10'7"
- 3-Cone: DNP
- Shuttle: DNP
Dallas Turner 2024 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT
STRENGTHS:
- High-level athlete with easy and explosive movement traits. Outstanding combination of length and athleticism.
- Showed some strength in his hands and his body as a pass rusher and run defender taking on OL blocks.
- Strong, heavy hands that, at times, shocked OL and TE, initially driving them back. Power in the 6-10” area.
- Pass rush snaps where he showed effective speed-to-power with a one-arm stab. Stronger than sinewy frame.
- When he had a runway from wide 9, he showed strong speed-to-power with strength on contact and power.
- Quickness and speed to attack the high side of the arc. Bend and flexibility to clear the arc, then flatten rush path.
- Pass rush snaps where he showed explosive burst off the ball immediately challenging the high side with speed.
- Subtle, yet explosive, sudden burst 2-3 steps into high side pass rush. Another gear to clear the arc and beat OT.
- Stride length with re-direct and change of direction allowed for quick inside counters off initial high side steps.
- Showed he could win as a pass rusher on the high side and working back underneath to the low side.
- Effective as looper on T/E stunts with short-area burst and flexibility to work through traffic and closing speed.
- Some outstanding run game snaps from stacked LB alignment. Showed run-and-hit traits with burst and range.
- Refined awareness of receiver splits and routes as an underneath zone coverage defender. Has good length and athleticism.
- 2023 – Showed an outstanding speed-to-power one-arm stab vs. Georgia, driving back OT into the pocket.
- Again, edge pass rush snaps in which he showed strong, heavy hands, driving back OT with initial pop and force.
- Showed an effective club-rip move as edge pass rusher, opening the edge and closing with speed to the QB.
WEAKNESSES:
- Needs to develop a more refined and wider array of edge pass rush moves better using his hands and counters.
- 2023 – Did not show a lot of snap and suddenness to his movement as a pass rusher. Did not fire off the ball.
- Needs to become more stout at the POA in the run game. Can be blocked and displaced by OT and TE.
- Overall, needs more play strength to become the dominant player his athletic traits suggest he could be.
NFL TRANSITION:
Turner’s college tape is tantalizing and frustrating, given the physical and athletic traits he clearly possesses. Still, his lack of pass rush production makes for a tough evaluation and projection. Turner is a long, fluid, higher-level athlete with the natural quickness and body flexibility to bend and clear the arc, then flatten his rush path to close with a burst to the QB.
His 2022 tape was more impressive as a pass rusher, while his 2023 tape showed he needs more meaningful development regarding the details, subtleties and nuances of rushing the QB. Turner is limited in his approach as a pass rusher, and one thing his 2023 tape consistently showed was he needs a wider array of moves and a more diversified pass rush approach.
Overall, I came away from his 2022 tape believing he could become a high-level dynamic edge rusher, but that was not the case after evaluating his 2023 tape. Turner has the size/length/athleticism/explosive profile that you like to see from edge pass rushers. Still, based on his 2023 tape, he is not yet ready to transition to the next level as a consistent edge rusher.
Turner needs cultivation and development regarding pass rush moves and counters to maximize his impressive physical traits, including arm length. That will likely take some time, given the increase in the talent level of OT he will face in the NFL. What will help Turner transition to the NFL is he can be deployed as a moveable chess piece, and you could see him as a standup Joker in third-down situations.
OTHER NOTES:
Turner graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as a consensus 5-star recruit and a top-20 prospect in the nation, regardless of position. He finished his three-year Alabama career with 22.5 quarterback sacks and 32.5 TFL.
In 2022, Turner played predominantly as an edge defender on the ball. Still, there were also significant snaps bumped out in overhang alignment and in stacked alignments as an off-the-ball LB.
Turner also had pass rush snaps in which he lined up inside as a standup 3-technique and as a standup Joker off the ball, as well as man coverage snaps vs. running backs when he peeled off his edge alignment.
In 2023, Turner also lined up inside at times as a Joker in pass rush down and distance situations. He also played significant snaps dropping into underneath zone coverage.
