The Dallas Cowboys went into the 2021 draft with 10 picks with a lot to address on the defensive side of the ball. But at the same time, you don’t want to overlook best player available for need. By the end of the draft on Saturday evening, the Cowboys had made 11 picks. 8 of those picks were on defense with only 3 on offense. 

The Cowboys entered Thursday night with the 10th pick in the draft. However, the Cowboys opted to trade back to 12 with the Philadelphia Eagles after Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain II were selected with the 8th and 9th pick, respectively. They were able to acquire a 3rd round pick in the process. 

With the 12th pick, the Cowboys selected Penn State Linebacker Micah Parsons. 

Parsons starts as the favorite to win defensive rookie of the year and immediately puts the jobs of Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith in trouble. 

The Cowboys have to make a decision on whether to pick up the 5th year option for LVE by Monday. The expectation is that they will not and he will become a free agent at the end of the season. 

In college, Parsons accumulated 191 tackles in two years. 18 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. 

In 2019, Parsons won the Butks-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the year and had an all time Cotton Bowl performance that resulted in him winning Cotton Bowl defensive MVP. Parsons had 14 tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles. 

He opted out of the 2020 college season after having several conversations with his family. Parsons has a three year old son that played a major part into that decision. 

Parsons wasn’t shy about the fact that he wanted to be a Dallas Cowboy. He was still a little surprised when he got the call from “The Star,” he told 1053 The Fan. 

Micah is expected to be able to come in and make an immediate impact with his speed and blitzing ability. 

Parsons is still raw and doesn’t have a lot of experience as a linebacker. He played defensive end in high school. Despite the raw-ness, he is a very capable tackler. At Penn State, he only missed 5.9% of his tackle attempts. 

I would expect Parsons to really challenge and eventually take over for LVE or Smith sooner rather than later.