Tag: Defensive Rookie of the Month

Cowboys LB Micah Parsons named NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Month… again

Parsons has won Defensive Rookie of the Month honors for 2 months in a row, only solidifying his case for more postseason accolades. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Maybe Micah Parsons should have asked Santa to bring him a bigger trophy case for Christmas.

The Cowboys rookie has been named the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Month for December, making it two months in a row that the first-year phenom has been so honored. That’s half the season so far.

According to the team website, Parsons is the first rookie in franchise history to win the award twice in one season. Nick Eatman points out that Parsons won Rookie of the Week accolades in Weeks 8, 10, and 14; he was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Week for the win over the Vikings on Oct. 31.

December was a particularly good month for the first-round draft pick, as Parsons racked up 12 tackles, four quarterback sacks, three tackles for loss, and a forced fumble… mostly from the linebacker position. His brilliant play on defense was a huge factor in Dallas going 4-0 over the month.

 

“I’ve got a nice little closet where I’m keeping everything right now, upstairs in my man cave, where I’m going to hang all my nice jerseys, too. ” Parsons said recently of all the hardware and souvenirs he’s collecting over his first year as a pro. “I’m hoping by the end of the year I’ve got a nice collection of things that I can look back and show everybody, and when friends come over, they see how cool it is. I’m just letting it build up right now.”

The Pro Bowl nominee is the odds-on favorite to win the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, and he has turned himself into a serious contender for the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.

That “nice little closet” may may need to be expanded in the near future. Who knows, maybe it will have to also include a display case for a Super Bowl ring.

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Cowboys’ Micah Parsons named defensive rookie of the month for November

The Cowboys’ first-round pick takes home the honor after a strong performance in a rough stretch for the team. | From @StarConscience

Rookie linebacker Micah Parsons has lived up to, and surpassed, any hype placed on him after being the 12th-overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. Not only is he a force going sideline to sideline on the second level, but he’s also shown to be a game-changer rushing the passer from the edge.

Parsons is on pace for more than 100 tackles and double-digit sacks in his impressive first season. However, he’s been in a different orbit over the last four games despite the Dallas Cowboys going 1-3. So much so that he’s been named the Defensive Rookie of the Month for November.

Parsons racked up 25 tackles (eight tackles for loss), 6.5 sacks, 12 quarterback hits, and two forced fumbles in November. That means he had more than half of his quarterback hits (23) and tackles for loss (15) on the season over the last month alone.

Parsons follows Los Angeles Chargers corner Asante Samuel, Jr. (September) and Kansas City Chiefs LB Nick Bolton (October) as award winners. New England Patriots QB Mac Jones won the offensive rookie of the month honor.

As the Cowboys look to turn around their recent slump and make a push for the playoffs, they’ll need Parsons to continue being a menace on the line of scrimmage and from the linebacker spot. The task will become easier with the return of defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence on Thursday against the New Orleans Saints and Randy Gregory in Week 14 against the Washington Football team. With those two rushing the passer and defending the run, Parsons will be free to roam and make plays.

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Chiefs LB Nick Bolton named Defensive Rookie of the Month for October

#Chiefs LB Nick Bolton has earned recognition as the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Month honors for the month of October.

Kansas City Chiefs rookie LB Nick Bolton has been turning heads with his defensive play lately, but now he’s being recognized by the league for his performance.

Bolton has earned the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Month honors for October, a month where he tallied 43 total tackles (8.6 per game) and seven tackles for loss in five games. It was the most by any rookie defenders since Week 4.

Bolton managed to do this playing at two different positions, starting out at SAM linebacker and taking over for Anthony Hitchens at the MIKE linebacker the past two games. He wore the green dot, acting as the defensive signal-caller in both the Chiefs’ Week 8 win over the New York Giants and his historic 15-tackle, 4-tackle for loss performance against the Tennesse Titans in Week 7.

A second-round draft pick in the 2021 NFL draft, Bolton joins an elite group of former Chiefs defenders to be honored with this award. The last player to receive the award for Kansas City was Marcus Peters in December of 2015. Former Chiefs safety Eric Berry was the first defender on the team to ever win the award back in December of 2010.

Bolton also became the third former University of Missouri player to earn Defensive Rookie of the Month honors, joining Sheldon Richardson (November 2013) and Aldon Smith (October, December 2011).

Surely this is only the beginning of the recognition that the 21-year-old linebacker will get for standout play during the course of his career.

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Panthers LB Jeremy Chinn wins Defensive Rookie of the Month again

Panthers hybrid defender Jeremy Chinn has been named the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Month for November, earning him the award for the second straight month. 

Carolina Panthers hybrid defender Jeremy Chinn has been named the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Month for November, earning him the award for the second straight month.

Carolina traded up at the end of the second round of this year’s draft to pick Chinn, an athletic and dynamic playmaker from Southern Illinois. While the team’s first two selections – Derrick Brown and Yetur Gross-Matos – have both shown plenty of potential, right now it’s clear that Chinn is the gem of the team’s 2020 class.

Chinn has played in 11 of the team’s 12 games this season, totaling 87 combined tackles, five passes defensed, one interception, three quarterback hits and two fumbles recovered for touchdowns.

To be sure, there’s still work to be done. Chinn has missed 12 tackles this season, an average of 12.1%. He’s also allowed four touchdowns and a 110.3 passer rating when targeted.

That said, Chinn has shown tremendous versatility, range and instincts. He lines up all over the field and has taken on a wide variety of tasks, including covering Rob Gronkowski one-on-one and spying Kyler Murray.

Along with Brian Burns and Christian McCaffrey, he’s a cornerstone piece for this team. Chinn’s ceiling is as high as any young defender in the league.

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