What type of ceiling does Micah Parsons have, if there even is one?
Micah Parsons burst onto the scene in 2021 with an elite performance from start to finish. Parsons finished 2nd in Defensive Player of the Year voting, was 1st Team All-Pro, and won Defensive Rookie of the Year unanimously. Where does he go from there?
It will certainly be hard for Parsons to top his outstanding rookie season. He nearly became the first rookie to win the DPOY since a guy named Lawrence Taylor did it in 1981. Parsons set the Dallas rookie sack record with 13 sacks (and flirted with Jevon Kearse’s NFL rookie record of 14.5) and was tied for the NFL lead in tackles for loss with 20. It’s important to contextualize just how great his rookie season was.
Parsons was Pro Football Focus’ highest graded pass rusher, had the highest pass rush win rate in the NFL, had the best third down pressure rate in the league, was PFF’s highest graded linebacker, and despite his pass-rushing acumen, still received the 12th highest coverage grade from PFF.
The wildest stat of them all? Parsons finished 6th and 8th in sacks and pressures, respectively, despite only ranking 118th in pass rush attempts. That is patently absurd. He put up elite Donald/Garrett/Watt-esque pass rushing numbers without nearly the amount of pass rush snaps the other elite rushers get.
