Evaluating the Vikings' 2024 rookie class: Hits, misses, and future stars

Despite a disappointing (and somewhat embarrassing) defeat to the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs, the Minnesota Vikings' 2024 season has to be seen as a success from an overall standpoint.

After all, the Vikes, who most pundits predicted would finish with maybe six or seven wins, went 14-3 during the regular season and put themselves in position to win a highly competitive NFC North and the No. 1 overall seed in the conference. But both dreams were dashed when Minnesota lost a winner-take-all battle with the Detroit Lions.

Much of the success for Minnesota can be attributed to the free-agent acquisitions the team made last offseason, a list that includes Sam Darnold, Aaron Jones, Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman. But the same can't be said of the Vikings' rookie class, a group that collectively took just 464 snaps on offense and defense, easily the lowest total in the league. By comparison, Rams rookies combined to take 4,864 such snaps.

It should be noted that snaps on special teams aren't taken into account here, which means kicker Will Reichard and other rookies who only played special teams, such as sixth-rounder Michael Rouse and seventh-rounder Michael Jurgens, aren't included in that number. Nevertheless, it's a remarkably low figure, especially when you factor in the fact that of those 464 snaps, first-round pick Dallas Turner (more on him in a moment) accounted for 302 of them.

Of course, one has to take into consideration that quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who was selected 10th overall, was lost to a season-ending knee injury during the preseason, which allowed Darnold to have the resurgent season he did. That said, though, Darnold was seemingly set to be the Week 1 starter anyway and would have remained QB1 until McCarthy was ready to go. So, it's difficult to know exactly how much action McCarthy would have seen.

And we'd be remiss if we didn't mention cornerback Khyree Jackson, who the Vikings took in the fourth round at No. 108 overall. Sadly, the Oregon alum never took an NFL snap, as he was killed in a car accident last July. One would think that had this tragedy not occurred Jackson would've seen an ample amount of defensive snaps.

Let's dig a little deeper into the Vikings' 2024 rookie class — well, at least the best we can under the circumstances.

Only two Vikings rookies made any sort of impact during the 2024 season

To start, here's a quick look at the breakdown of the 464 snaps mentioned above, all of which came on the defensive side of the football.

• Dallas Turner, LB: 302
• Taki Taimani, DL: 70
• Gabriel Murphy, LB: 35
• Bo Richter, LB: 30
• Dwight McGlothern, CB: 20
• Levi Drake Rodriguez, DL: 7

As you can see, outside of Turner, it's extremely difficult to judge the other five players on this list. What we can say is that none of the five received an overall PFF grade lower than 61.2, that number belonging to Taimani, who went undrafted out of Oregon but signed with Minnesota as a free agent.

The best grade of the five belonged to McGlothern, who was also signed as an undrafted free agent. The LSU alum earned an 80.5 rating for his 20 defensive snaps.

Now, let's get into the only two rookies who made any real impact for Minnesota during the 2024 season.

EDGE Dallas Turner

For those who may have forgotten, Minnesota made a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars to move up six spots in the 2024 draft to select Turner, jumping from No. 23 to No. 17 to select the Alabama pass-rusher. In addition to the pick swap, the Vikings also sent the Jags their fifth-round pick and third- and fourth-round selections in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft. So, they clearly had high hopes for the 2023 SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, essentially entrusting him to help with the loss of Danielle Hunter.

But Turner has a long way to go to reach that level. He didn't see as many snaps as most thought he might, surpassing the 50-percent mark just once all season. And that was in the season opener against the New York Giants, a game in which he recorded his first NFL sack.

But with Van Ginkel and Greenard having such fantastic seasons, both earning Pro Bowl selections, Turner saw his defensive snaps drop considerably, ultimately taking roughly 26.4 percent overall, but he did see plenty of action on special teams.

Overall, he recorded 20 total tackles, three tackles for loss, five QB hits, 3.0 sacks and one pass defended, earning a 64.1 overall PFF defensive grade, which ranked 63rd among 119 eligible edge rushers.

Given what the Vikings gave up to get Turner, one would think they'd like to see a little more production. But that obviously can't happen if he's not on the field. It'll be interesting to see how he's utilized in year two.

Will Reichard

As for Will Reichard, the all-time leading scorer in FBS history began his professional career with a bang, making his first 34 kicks with the Vikings. In addition to going 20-for-20 on extra-point attempts, the sixth-round selection also connected on his first 14 field goal tries, four of which went for 50-plus yards.

Reichard's streak finally came to an end in the Vikings' Week 9 win over the Indianapolis Colts, as he missed a pair of field goals. However, that could have easily been due to the oblique injury he suffered during the game, an ailment that landed him on injured reserve the following day.

Upon his return, Reichard continued to be perfect on extra points, not missing a single attempt all season, but missed four field goals over the final five weeks of the season. Overall, he went 38-for-38 on extra points and 24-for-30 on field goals during the regular season.

The Vikings will obviously be hoping he returns to his early-season form once the 2025 campaign begins.