Myles Garrett’s top status is being challenged by Micah Parsons.
It would be an understatement to call Micah Parsons a defensive lineman. Alternatively, it could be more accurate to say that it is a misrepresentation. What I mean by it is this: The Dallas Cowboys list Parsons as a linebacker, although he can truly play anywhere in the box. His influence is most noticeable when he is coming off the edge, which is why, over the course of his brief career, he has gradually started to spend more time there. However you choose to name him, the outcome is always the same. One of the NFL’s most formidable defensive players is Micah Parsons.
Pro Football Focus, however, asserts that Parsons is not the most dominant player in his position. That accolade goes to Myles Garrett, the defensive end for the Cleveland Browns, who defeated Parsons and TJ Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers to win Defensive Player of the Year in the previous campaign. Being ignored by the wonderful people at PFF didn’t sit well with Parsons.
Parsons has expressed doubts about his ranking as one of the league’s top edge rushers on multiple occasions this offseason. Less than two weeks ago, Parsons expressed his displeasure with the results on social media, writing, “Most double teamed player but I have best pass rush percentage and most pressures!” in response to an ESPN survey of executives, coaches, and scouts that put him third. claiming minimal productivity and that the amounts don’t add up.
It’s interesting to note that Micah Parsons supported Myles Garrett in February, just after the Cowboys star placed third in the Defensive Player of the Year competition. He declared Garrett to be a worthy winner, emphasizing that his effect was higher than TJ Watt’s from top to bottom. But now, it seems as though this cozy collaboration has turned into a hybrid cold war. The good news is that we won’t have to wait very long in the 2024 season to discover who gets to brag.
Week 1 will see Parsons/Garrett and Cowboys/Browns settle it on the field.
On the first Sunday of the NFL season, when the Dallas Cowboys visit the Cleveland Browns, Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett will have the opportunity to settle the score in what will be better recognized as Tom Brady’s first appearance in the FOX announce booth. Even though Parsons and Garrett will never play simultaneously, one of these two superstars will undoubtedly make a crucial play that might decide which of these two teams wins the opening game of the season. Few players have had as much of an influence over the past three seasons as Parsons or Garrett, and it’s difficult to see an advantage for either player.
In 50 games, 213 total tackles, 40.5 sacks, 7 forced fumbles, and 89 quarterback hits in 2021–2023 for Micah Parsons
2021–2023 Myles Garrett: 49 games, 153 total tackles, 46 sacks, 7 forced fumbles, 89 quarterback hits.
Let’s just suppose that, in the spirit of the excitement surrounding this season opener, the NFL’s top defensive linemen will receive an imaginary championship belt if they make the biggest impression on opening Sunday. Or, in the case of Parsons, whatever the hell label you want to apply to him.