Dallas City News

The Dallas Cowboys selected Micah Parsons with the 12th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. This happened when they traded back two spots with the Philadelphia Eagles after missing out on one of the top cornerbacks in the draft. Since then, Parsons has been the consolation prize that trumps all other prizes as he’s turned out to be the best player in the entire draft so far. His Pro Football Reference Approximate Value is considerably higher than everyone else in his draft class.

Pro Football Reference

This pick was initially criticized as many thought it was a misuse of resources to take an off-ball linebacker so high. While Parsons was primarily an off-ball linebacker at Penn State, he did have some untapped potential as a pass rusher and the Cowboys found this out in a hurry. Due to injuries (DeMarcus Lawrence missed nine games and Randy Gregory missed four), Parsons saw a lot of action on the edge, and as it turned out, he was pretty darn good. Right out of the gate, Parsons led the Cowboys in sacks, more than the next two highest Cowboys defenders combined.

Whether you want to attribute this to great scouting or sheer luck, the Cowboys had found themselves a superstar player at one of the most highly valued positions in football. Three years in the league, Parsons’ sack numbers have gone up each year and in every season, he’s finished in the top three in voting for Defensive Player of the Year. With his skill set, it seems like the edge is where you’d want him to be and every snap he takes somewhere else feels criminal. After all, he led the league in quarterback pressures last year. He’s pretty good at it.

However, Parsons is a dynamic player. He is capable of so much more. And while it’s early, it appears that new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer is adamant about unleashing that potential. After watching how he was used last year, Zimmer said that the offense always know where he’s at and had a good scheme against him. This year, he wants to move him around more and do different things with him. And one of those ways is at off-ball linebacker where he is seeing more reps at training camp.

Parsons is down in weight, back to 240 pounds, his playing weight in college. That’s 15 pounds lighter than his 255 bulk-up from a year ago. Gone are the muscle-up body transitions meant to handle every snap battle against bigger defensive linemen. Sleek is the goal now as Parsons himself describes…

“I’m going to be all over, man. At the end of the day, they got to find me. That’s what I train for. There are some days I go into the gym and do 500-600 reps. It’s that muscle endurance, that conditioning that you’re training for. Great trainers and great people have helped me understand that more weight doesn’t always mean a positive thing. It’s just how you train.”

This new-look Parsons is designed to make the defense more stealthy. He’ll physically be more adept at handling an expanded role, but the mental aspect will be important too. Zimmer will challenge Parsons’ processing ability and see what new things he can do. The hopes are that a faster, more disguised Parsons will make the defense less predictable and always keep the offense on their toes. That’s a staple of a Zimmer defense.

This will be a change for Parsons, but also has a trickle-down effect. If he’s spending less time on the edge, who’s taking those reps? Remember, the Cowboys lost edge rushers Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler in free agency. They ranked third and fifth in edge rushing snaps for the Cowboys a year ago. Not only that, but Sam Williams was injured in practice on Sunday and is lost for the season. That means the team will rely on veteran DeMarcus Lawrence and rookie Marshawn Kneeland. Tank is a known force so it will be business as usual for him, but expecting a large role from someone who hasn’t played a down in the NFL might be unreasonable. The team would then look toward down-the-roster guys like Chauncey Golston and Tyrus Wheat. They may also bring in a free agent veteran.

Conversely, with Parsons playing more off-ball linebacker, he will eat into some of the reps from the current linebackers. Suddenly, a super lean group featuring a hybrid safety filling in at linebacker last year has become crowded. Damone Clark is the only returning linebacker, but he’ll now be joined by free agent Eric Kendricks, rookie Marist Liufau, and second-year player DeMarvion Overshown who missed last season with a knee injury. Even with moving to a 4-3 base defense, the Cowboys will now have five off-ball linebackers vying for three spots. But this is not terrible considering two players, Overshown and Liufau, haven’t played a down in the NFL and would benefit from being eased into action.

There are a lot of questions about what Zimmer’s defense will look like and we’re gradually getting answers. A more sleek Micah Parsons roaming around is the first revelation and is likely to be the most important. Hopefully, these changes will help the Cowboys shore up some of the issues that gave them problems a year ago.