If your franchise is lucky, it can draft a generational talent with a truly unique mindset. Some of the greatest players in history have felt unstoppable at certain points in their careers, and as Dallas Cowboys EDGE Micah Parsons enters Year 4, he feels like he is tapping into that mode right now.
Cowboys’ Micah Parsons is Locked In Right Now
Parsons is a truly unique NFL talent.
Widely viewed as a bit of an undersized pass rusher, Parsons was drafted to be an off-the-ball linebacker. Now, he is one of the NFL’s very best at getting after the quarterback.
When the Cowboys took him with the 12th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, they may not even have realized the type of talent they added to their roster.
With Parsons’ best still ahead of him, an important year is on the horizon as he awaits a new deal that is surely coming soon. And while it’s only three weeks into training camp, he feels like he is at the top of his game right now.
Micah Parsons shows off-ball pre-snap and shoots out of a cannon to get into the backfield in a hurry. Dak completes to Cooks anyway but a fun wrinkle from Mike Zimmer #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/C0xDLuIzI6
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisDC) August 5, 2024
“I’m in rhythm now,” Parsons said. “The first few days, I hadn’t played in seven, eight months. [But now], I know my angles. I feel like I’m in Week 4 right now. I’m in the backfield all day,” Parsons started.
“If I’m in rhythm, there’s nothing they can do. They might as well start chipping, sliding, or it’s gonna be a long day here.”
While the early part of camp was spent on getting acclimated, Parsons now believes what he is seeing from defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and his unit, could be special this season.
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“Before, everyone was in partials, right? They just wanted to see certain things and we were running just normal [down-and-distance],” Parsons said.
“But now, the third-downs, second-downs, it’s everything. And this is what it’s going to look like. Everything is in now. If they don’t chip me, there’ll be five or six sacks every day. It’s pretty much, I’m going to tell you right now.”
A defense completely complementary to Parsons and his unique abilities could be dangerous for the NFL, and he knows it.
Can Parsons and the Defense Elevate Their Game in 2024?
The Cowboys’ defense has been consistently a top unit since Parsons’s arrival.
Former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn built a group that was opportunistic in the back end and hungry for sacks in the front end. For a while, it looked to be sustainable, as Dallas was one of the more productive units in both categories during his tenure.
However, as seasons wore on and the team advanced to the playoffs, the unit became less effective and far more susceptible to giving up big plays.
Now, the question turns to Zimmer and whether he is able to get the most out of this group while maintaining effectiveness from start to finish. If you ask the players on the roster, the answer to that question looks to be encouraging right now.
“Their disguise now is insane. It’s insane,” started Cowboys’ wide receiver Jalen Brooks.
“[Dan Quinn] had some disguises, but [Zimmer’s] are pretty good. I gotta give him full credit for that. It’s really good,” he continued.
When asked by the attending media to elaborate, Brooks didn’t want to give away too much, but simply stated, “It’s a lot of little things.”
Zimmer is going to employ many different variables than we have seen from Cowboys defenses in the past, with Parsons looking to benefit from many of them.
The veteran coach expects his players to be disciplined and to execute at a high level, and there is a reason for that.
Zimmer will disguise what they are doing before the snap of the ball and may choose to present a look one way prior to the snap and roll into an entirely different coverage as the ball is hiked. To do so effectively, the defense will need to be on point and understand their assignments.
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The premise is to give the quarterback far less time to process what he is seeing, in hopes of a mistake the group can capitalize on.
It’s uniquely different than Quinn’s pin your ears back and beat the man in front of you style. And for Dallas, that may be a good thing.
With a plan in place and the players seemingly on board with the changes, the Cowboys’ ability to take their game to another level in 2024 will depend on execution.
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