Cowboys Draft: Why drafting LB Micah Parsons would be a mistake
The Dallas Cowboys will own a premier pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Most likely, they'll be picking in the Top 5, giving them a plethora of options to upgrade their team. One of those options is Linebacker Micah Parsons out of Penn State. On the face of it, it makes a lot of sense. […]
The Dallas Cowboys will own a premier pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Most likely, they'll be picking in the Top 5, giving them a plethora of options to upgrade their team. One of those options is Linebacker Micah Parsons out of Penn State. On the face of it, it makes a lot of sense. The Cowboys have struggled at linebacker since last year as Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch have regressed from their 2018 selves. As for Parsons, he's a great athlete that can shine immediately thanks to his extensive skillset.
Yet, drafting Micah Parsons would be a mistake for the Cowboys.
Don't get me wrong. As stated above, I believe Parsons is a great prospect for the NFL. After playing primarily as a pass rusher in high school, Parsons excelled at linebacker for the Nittany Lions. In 2019, his first year as a starter, he earned All-American honors as he finished the season with 109 tackles.
He's agile and fast and displays solid instincts on the playing field. There are little questions about his level of play. Of course, he opted out of the 2020 season due to the pandemic in order to prepare for the NFL Draft, but that'll be the case with plenty of prospects in such a bizarre college football season.
If the Dallas Cowboys were to plug in Parsons over Smith or Vander Esch, they'd probably be improving the defense. Although they made a great first impression in 2018, they've consistently struggled since then. You can put the blame on Defensive Coordinator Mike Nolan in 2020, but they're a huge part of the problem as well. Both are making bad reads, tackling poorly, and hurting the defense.
So why shouldn't the Dallas Cowboys go ahead and draft Micah Parsons? Well, there are a lot of things to consider. First of all, there's "positional value." As much as some hate to admit it, some positions are more important than others. Not only because of their role on defense or offense but because of player-to-player variability.
For example, PFF has followed baseball's sabermetricians' steps in developing a "WAR" stat. WAR, which stands for Wins Above Replacement, determines how good a player is and compares it to how his team would do with an "average" player in his place. PFF has found that while linebackers are important, the player-to-player variability isn't enough to make it one of the most important positions in football.
Considering the Dallas Cowboys will be in a position to upgrade the cornerback position with top prospects such as Caleb Fairley (Virginia Tech) or Patrick Surtain (Alabama), upgrading the cornerback position would make way more sense.
Plus, cornerback might be the team's biggest need. We know the NFL is a passing league nowadays and the Cowboys have a lot to fix on defense, but other than Trevon Diggs, who can the team count on for 2021 and beyond? Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis are set to hit free agency in the offseason leaving the defensive backfield in trouble.
Diggs was playing pretty well before being hurt and pairing him up with another young and promising cornerback should be a way better option than taking a linebacker with a Top 5 pick.
As much as I love Micah Parsons the player, I don't love Micah Parsons the Top 5 pick. Hopefully, the Cowboys' front office doesn't make the mistake of spending a premier draft pick on a position that's proven to have a low positional value.
Featured Image Via Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
