Alabama defensive end Dallas Turner may actually an elite pass rusher in the 2024 NFL Draft and if the Chicago Bears want to primarily build up their defense he could be their guy at ninth overall.
I may have to eat a bit of crow from an earlier article I barely wrote 24 hours ago. Either I’m delusional as I’m nearing my bedtime or I’ve been wrong all along about Dallas Turner defensive end from Alabama.
So, I decided to plop down and watch some tape on Alabama defensive end, I watched his pass rush sequences against Texas, Georgia and Texas A&M. By the time I got to his game against the Aggies I convinced myself pretty quickly that Dallas Turner may be the most athletically gifted pass rusher in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The case for Dallas Turner at ninth overall may be crystal clear:
Dallas Turner looks like the quickest, smoothest and most tenacious pass rusher I’ve seen in the 2024 NFL Draft. He’s better than either Laiatu Latu and Jared Verse. When you pop on the Georgia tape you see he’s a player that’s clearly dominating the game and Georgia had no answer for him off the edge. The Bulldogs left him single blocked and he basically ran over around and through left tackle Earnest Greene. In fairness to Greene he was starting as a redshirt freshman so you would expect him to completely overwhelmed by a player of Turner’s caliber.
That being said Texas pretty much double teamed and or chipped Turner throughout their game and weren’t going to let him near quarterback Quinn Ewers. Dallas Turner didn’t seem at all phased by it and still fought his ass off in both the passing game and in run defense situations. He has a clear non-stop motor and will chase down players down the field giving near total effort along the way.
Adding to his ability Turner wins with leverage and power in his hands which is unique for a 6-foot-3 247-pound defensive end. He will get his hands under the pads of the blocker and drive the back into the QB. He consistently can win with a one hand stab move or stack and shed the blocker with both hands. Dallas Turner never seems lost and always seems to know where the ball is and where he needs to go, to get the football. He has a variety of different pass rush moves and utilizes those moves in combination to get to the QB.
His pursuit of the QB is relentless, even if he’s not going to make the play he’s still going to be a guy who gets some pressure and disrupts the play with his effort. He consistently made the QB move off of his spot even if he wasn’t getting a clear path. Oftentimes getting to the QB and causing consistent pressure can be as good as a sack because it will result in a negative play if that QB can’t reset his feet properly and make a good throw.
That’s what you see with Turner a relentless perhaps even reckless effort to get to the QB.
So, you want me to find weaknesses in Dallas Turner’s game?
I’ll be honest I’m hard pressed to do so. He’s only 247-pounds but he’s hardly filled out and could add more weight, which means he could wind up like Terrell Suggs did, in the 260-pound range. If he’s sleight of frame it’s not really noticeable. You could argue he’s not the ideal prospect and needs some refinement to his game with some of his hand fighting skills, but he’s such a naturally gifted athlete with long arms and 4.46 speed in the 40-yard dash plus 34- and 3/8-inch arms (longer than Fashanu at 6-6) what he lacks will be made up for with good coaching.
Closing Argument
If Ryan Pole determines adding an edge rusher to compliment Montez Sweat is the priority and adding speed off the edge is the priority the Chicago Bears will draft Dallas Turner in the 2024 NFL Draft. I honestly can’t imagine he’ll get to the ninth pick and will be there for the Atlanta Falcons who desperately need a difference maker on defense. There’s absolutely no way you can be disappointed if Dallas Turner is the pick at nine.
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