Cowboys' Micah Parsons says Steelers' T.J. Watt 'Isn't a top-five pure pass rusher in the NFL'
It hasn't exactly been the 24 hours that Pittsburgh Steelers star T.J. Watt envisioned. After losing out on what would have been his second DPOY, there was certainly going to be plenty of discourse around the football world. One of the people with plenty to say about Watt and the DPOY award was Dallas Cowboys […]
It hasn't exactly been the 24 hours that Pittsburgh Steelers star T.J. Watt envisioned.
After losing out on what would have been his second DPOY, there was certainly going to be plenty of discourse around the football world.
One of the people with plenty to say about Watt and the DPOY award was Dallas Cowboys star pass rusher Micah Parsons.
Only, he didn't defend Watt, he dunked on him. Or at least he tried…
Not Even Top 5?
"I'm not a sore loser, I thought it [DPOY] should have went to Myles [Garrett] if not me," Parsons told Zach Gelb of CBS Sports. "If you look at the Titans game alone, and no offense, but T.J. played the Titans, and did you see two tight ends following T.J. Watt? (Like they did vs. Myles Garrett). Say what you want, but his [Myles Garrett's] presence is felt a lot more than T.J. Watt's and thats’s just the reality of it."
Well, Parsons is correct in his assumption about Watt and how often he wins or is double-teamed compared to he and Garrett:
| Player | Pass Rush Win Rate (%) | Double Team (%) |
|---|---|---|
Micah Parsons | 35% | 35% |
Myles Garrett | 30% | 29% |
T.J. Watt | 25% | 14% |
ESPN
Now, the idea that pass rush win rate is some end all be all stat that determines who's better than who is certainly a take, but just for the sake of this argument, here's why Parsons’ rankings make no sense, and refute his own reasoning:
"If you look at my win rate and my double team percentage, I was the best one this year so I would say me, then I would say Myles [Garrett] then Maxx [Crosby] then Nick Bosa," said Parsons when asked to rank his top five pass rushers before stumbling to find a fifth.
"The stats don’t lie. I think he [Watt] might have been fifth or sixth in pass rush win rate. Alex Highsmith might have had a higher pass rush win rate then he [Watt] did,” said Parsons when asked why Watt wasn’t in his top 5 pass rushers. "This isn’t my stuff, I’m not just pulling this out of my a**, look at the stats."
See, I was with you in the beginning Micah, but I’m afraid you are in fact pulling stats, or in this case, hot takes out your a**.
When analyzing pass rush win rate, the metric that Parsons used to determine his top five pass rushers, Watt is tied for fourth in pass rush win rate, which is 15 spots higher than Nick Bosa (who Parsons had ahead of Watt in his top 5) and is incomparable to Maxx Crosby (Who Parsons also had ahead of Watt) seeing as he doesn't rank in the top 20 of the stat.
So look, everyone is entitled to their opinion and Parsons' argument about he and Garrett being better given the pass rush win rate metric is a sound one, albeit flawed.
But when you want to use that same metric to prove that Watt isn't a top five pass rusher yet he's literally tied for fourth, it would probably be best to double-check the sheet before making a fool out of yourself.
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