The 2021 NFL Draft board fell in such a way that the Dallas Cowboys are going to reap the benefits for years to come. With the No. 12 overall pick, the Cowboys selected Penn State linebacker, Micah Parsons.
The versatile linebacker made his presence felt from Day 1 with the Cowboys as he is excellent in so many areas. Dan Quinn has probably had a blast deploying him like a chess piece as Parsons is effective as a sideline-to-sideline player chasing down the ball carrier or dropping back into pass coverage.
However, the most impactful way that he can be deployed is as a pass rusher. As a rookie, Parsons racked up 13 sacks to go along with 30 quarterback hits in 16 games. He added 20 tackles for loss, winning the Defensive Rookie of the Year award and finishing second in the Defensive Player of the Year award.
This season, Parsons has been arguably more dominant. He has six games with 2.0 sacks thus far this season, giving him 12 on the season. He has 13 tackles for a loss and 21 quarterback hits in 11 games, adding two passes defended, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery, which he returned for a touchdown.
When taking in all of the stats, an argument could be made that Parsons is the best pass rusher in the NFL right now. According to PFF, he is the only player in the NFL with a pressure percentage over 20 percent since 2021. His percentage is an impressive 20.5 percent.
Parsons is one of the most dominant pass rushers in the NFL, but the Cowboys aren’t deploying him exclusively as a pass rusher. It is something that they are doing more of, but head coach Mike McCarthy has stated that he is important to the team’s entire scheme to only be used as a pass rusher.
His presence is extremely important to the Cowboys finding success on that side of the ball. Teams have to put a lot of focus on Parsons, which opens things up for his teammates and they are taking full advantage.
Micah Parsons is pacing the team with 12 sacks, but Dallas has a dominant pass rush with Dorance Armstrong Jr., DeMarcus Lawrence and Dante Fowler all having at least five sacks on the season. Teams have struggled to slow this group down all season and will continue to do so as long as Parsons is on the field.
