Photo Credit: The Dallas Cowboys Football Club
FRISCO, Texas – The accolades keep compiling for Cowboys linebacker/defensive end Micah Parsons.
The Penn State product was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month after notching 6.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss, 12 quarterback hits and two forced fumbles in the month of November. Dallas’ hybrid playmaker is on pace to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Parsons becomes the fifth player since 1999 to record more than six sacks with at least eight tackles for loss in November, joining Julius Peppers (2008), Von Miller (2012), Aldon Smith (2012) and J.J. Watt (2015).
The first-year player has already set a Cowboys rookie record for sacks in a single season with nine (passing DeMarcus Ware), and there are still six regular season games to be played.
Whether it is Parsons’ burst through the A and B-gaps or his lethal bend/twitch off the edge, defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has built the unit around Parsons’ versatility. The word that became synonymous with Parsons following his 12th overall selection in April was “pressure.”
The coaching staff has not tried to confine him to a specific box – be it linebacker or defensive end – but have allowed him to disrupt offensive game plans from a variety of roles with his prowess as a downhill player. His pursuit skills are rare and have been a catalyst in transforming the Cowboys’ defense into not only a respectable unit this season, but a formidable front. Parsons has not lined up as a full-time defensive end since high school and opted out of the 2020 season while at Penn State, making his production and film sample size in the NFL even more impressive.
Despite his effectiveness as a stationary defensive end, Quinn has made it clear that the goal is to maximize all of Parsons’ skillset, including his sideline-to-sideline range as a linebacker. His speed, vison and agility near the line of scrimmage have bolstered the defensive unit in Dallas. On any given Sunday, offensive coordinators do not know where Parsons will line up at or rush from, making him a dangerous weapon. Parsons has a tremendous upside and has only scratched the surface.
Heading into Thursday night’s Week 13 showdown against the New Orleans Saints, Parsons leads the Cowboys in sacks (9.0), quarterback pressures (26) and tackles for loss (9.0). He is the only player to rank in the top 15 in pass rush win rate and run stop win rate this year, among 109 players with a minimum 100 pass rushes and 100 run stop plays per NFL Next Gen Stats.
“He jumps off the tape at you,” Saints head coach Sean Payton described. “I think more recently at the end position, he’s impressive when he rushes. Obviously when he plays at linebacker the same way. I think when he gets on the tackles though and is rushing, he’s a handful. You see in different games where he’s playing at different spots.”
Since the bye week, Parsons has prioritized his mental preparation and film study. Instead of arriving at 7 a.m. to the team’s headquarters in Frisco, Parsons started arriving at 6 a.m. to get a jump start. In addition, he began initiating one-on-one sessions with Quinn, defensive line coach Aden Durde and senior defensive assistant George Edwards. Expectations are often lower for rookies but for Parsons, his objective is to be “great.”
“I challenge myself every week to go out there and be great and to find a way to impact the game, whether that’s at end or linebacker,” Parsons stated. “And I feel like it shouldn’t matter where I’m at. I’ve got to find a way to make the money, you know what I mean? And help my team win. So, I’m hungry within myself to be great.”
Despite the team’s 36-33 loss to the Raiders on Thanksgiving Day, Parsons found a way to impact the game. In overtime, he had a tackle for loss and a sack off a bull rush in consecutive plays to make it third-and-18. However, a defensive pass interference penalty on Anthony Brown kept the drive alive for Las Vegas. Despite the outcome, Parsons’ effort garnered praise from Quinn.
“I would say on the sack at the end, just the ability to take a guy up and bring him back underneath – for him as a pass rusher, you’ve got good speed off the edge, so the tackle really has to set and come back,” Quinn described to D210SPORTS. “But Micah’s continued to make big plays for us in big time moments. And so, we count on him for that. We try to put him in positions that he has chances to do that. But at the end of the day, to try to find spots – whether it’s at linebacker or D-End – to put him in spots where he can make these impactful plays. He’s a good blitzer, he’s a good rusher, so we try to feature him in those ways as often as we can.”
The spotlight continues to shine on Parsons. A reality he relishes and welcomes donning the Star.
