The expectations were already high for Micah Parsons, the first-round draft pick taken by the Cowboys this year. Coming off a franchise-worst year defensively, the team bypassed secondary studs and interior run-stuffers to select the linebacker out of Penn State.
Now as training camp approaches, Parsons will be leaned on to contribute heavily in his rookie season. But one expert is already mentioning the youngster’s name in the same breath as one of the league’s most feared game-wreckers.
Citing Parsons’s formidable speed and pass-rush abilities, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero thinks the 22-year-old can have “a Von Miller-like impact” in Dallas this season.
In 2011, Miller was the second overall pick in the draft. On his very first snap in a regular season game, he forced a fumble for the Broncos defense. He went on to compile 11.5 sacks and was named Defensive Rookie of the Year en route to a Pro Bowl appearance.
Pelissero notes that Miller was “more of an edge player” coming out of Texas A&M. But with a shift in Denver to a 4-3 defensive scheme, Miller found himself in an “off-the-ball strong-side linebacker” role to allow him to get after the quarterback.
The eight-time Pro Bowler is big, fast, and explosive. Parsons checks many of the same boxes for the Dallas coaching staff. They believe “he has A-plus pass rush traits,” says Pelissero.
Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn “is going to find ways for Micah Parsons to get after the passer, much as the Broncos have for Von Miller,” he continues, “and obviously as his career progressed, that became his primary role.”
In Dallas, where sack totals have placed the club in the bottom half of the league for multiple seasons, that would be a welcome change of pace indeed.
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