Vikings Warned to ‘Start Appreciating' This Under the Radar Player
The NFL draft is long over, and now, teams are starting to get together for OTAs and summer practices ahead of the 2026 season.
For the Minnesota Vikings, it’s going to be a rebuilding year. Even though they have a strong basis, and two quarterbacks vying for the starting position, the Vikings are a bit nervous going into 2026, following their 2025 season which saw them falling short of the playoffs.
In a feature for NFL.com out on Tuesday, May 26, Tom Blair names the most underrated players in the NFC heading into the new season. “In a 32-team league with 53-man rosters, it’s impossible to properly praise all quality contributors,” he states. “But as we head into summer — the NFL’s slow season — it’s a perfect time to check some of those boxes.”
For the Vikings, he names linebacker Dallas Turner as one of their most underappreciated players.
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“Turner didn’t do much in 2024 after being drafted 17th overall, appearing in 16 games as a rookie but playing just 28 percent of Minnesota’s defensive snaps and mustering a paltry three sacks,” he notes in the piece. “His eight-sack effort last season sort of snuck by me, with 4.5 of those coming between Weeks 13 and 18, when the Vikings were mostly playing out the string on the remainder of a lost season.”
He adds: “Turner’s encouraging sophomore effort came into better focus when I was digging deeper into a slightly bizarre (but positive!) speculative case I was building about his team.”
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As Blair also points out in the piece, now that Jonathan Greenard is no longer with the Vikings, it appears they’re ready to let Turner take his spot in the lineup and step it up. Over the past year, he’s only shown that he’s capable and willing to work for his spot on this lineup, and don’t be surprised if this is really a breakout season for him.
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This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 11:56 AM.