How practicing against Christian Darrisaw is helping Dallas Turner grow

Turner facing Darrisaw every day is only going to help him be ready for NFL games.

Vikings rookie OLB Dallas Turner at an offseason practice. / Images Courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

Welcome to the NFL, Dallas Turner. Your task: go up against one of the best left tackles in the world every day in your first training camp.

Turner, who the Vikings traded up to take with the 17th overall pick in this year's draft, has been thrown into the fire this summer. In part due to Andrew Van Ginkel's injury, the rookie was playing with the first-team defense on day one of camp. That means frequent practice reps against Christian Darrisaw, the Vikings' elite left tackle who just earned a four-year extension worth up to $113 million.

Unsurprisingly, that hasn't always gone well for Turner. In the Vikings' first padded practice earlier this week, there were multiple reps where Darrisaw got his hands on him and made him a non-factor in the play. Whether Turner tried to bend around the edge or spin back inside, Darrisaw was there to stonewall him.

"I ain't gon' lie, he hard," Turner said early in camp. "CD hard, for sure. But I know if I go against a guy like that in practice every day, the game's gon' be easy. The work speaks for itself. He definitely deserved every single coin of that (contract). It shows every single day in practice, locking me up."

Truly, there's no better learning experience for a 21-year-old rookie pass rusher than to go against someone of Darrisaw's caliber on a daily basis. Every rep helps the former Alabama standout grow. On top of that, Darrisaw — who wants to take on a bigger leadership role this year — is always talking to Turner about what he saw on a particular rep.

"You've seen CD pull him aside," head coach Kevin O'Connell said. "You see it pre-practice sometimes, and he's even showing him, hey, you shot your hand too quick, or you probably started that move a little bit too far away from me, or I never really felt speed on the initial rush before you got into it. And those are coming from one of the best left tackles in football."

By the end of camp, Turner might be a bit sick of seeing no. 71 line up across from him. But he knows how much this experience is aiding his development. When the regular season rolls around, he's going to be ready to go against some of the other star offensive tackles in the league.

The Vikings traded a lot to move up and get Turner in April, believing he's a top-ten talent who happened to fall to 17. They were enamored by his rare combination of length, athleticism, and pass rush ability. This is a guy who had 8.5 sacks as an 18-year-old freshman in the SEC and 10 more in his All-American 2023 season. Those players are hard to acquire. The Vikings think he has star potential and the versatility to be a weapon for Brian Flores right away in his rookie year.

What they've maybe been most impressed by so far is Turner's maturity and how he's handled everything they've thrown at him from a mental standpoint.

"You kind of forget sometimes that he's a rookie," O'Connell said. "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. And then as installations start to pick up, and he hasn't missed a beat. So that's really unique."

"Dallas loves football, so every day is a new day," O'Connell continued. "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. It’s one that I'm okay seeing because I get to wear a whistle and a polo shirt. But I'm just looking forward to seeing him grow and get some exposure throughout this camp and see exactly what his role is going to be."