The Dallas Cowboys will have their third defensive coordinator in three seasons with Matt Eberflus now in charge. They will also face significant problems in the secondary with Jourdan Lewis out of the picture and Trevon Diggs rehabbing from another knee injury. But the main reason why Cowboys fans should feel optimistic about the state of their defense is none other than Micah Parsons.
A high-ankle sprain in Week 4 caused Parsons to miss four games last season and it was clear he wasn’t 100 percent healthy when he got back on the field. However, he still managed to have a Pro Bowl season, and he recorded 12+ sacks for the fourth consecutive season. Reggie White is the only other player in NFL history to record 12+ sacks or more in four straight seasons to start their career.
But where does Parsons rank among his peers going into his age-26 season? In a recent article by Ryan Smith of Pro Football Focus, he wrote about the top 32 EDGE rushers in the NFL going into the 2025 season. That list, of course, included Micah Parsons, who came in at No. 2 behind only Myles Garrett.
Cowboys’ Micah Parsons set to become the NFL’s best pass rusher
Here is PFF’s reasoning behind putting Parsons at that spot:
“Parsons missed four games last season — the first absences of his NFL career due to injury — but still recorded at least 70 pressures for the fourth consecutive year. His 20.2% pass-rush win rate trailed only Myles Garrett. Since entering the league, Parsons has been nearly unblockable, and he has earned a PFF pass-rush grade of 91.6 or higher in each of his four seasons.”Ryan Smith, Pro Football Focus
Parsons doesn’t have the raw sack numbers like T.J. Watt or Nick Bosa, but he is a much more efficient pass rusher, and his pressure rate is significantly higher than both players since coming into the league. Sacks can be very quarterback dependent, but creating consistent pressure can have just as big of an impact, and Parsons does that as well as anyone not named Myles Garrett.
The only real “knock” on Parsons is that he isn’t an elite run defender, but he certainly isn’t deficient in that area. He’s made real strides since entering the NFL when it comes to defending the run on the edge and the hope is that Eberflus’ scheme could help him even further in that area of his game.
A healthy and motivated Micah Parsons should be enough to get the Cowboys back on track on defense. He is that type of player who can single-handedly take over games and will his team to victory.
Look for Parsons to have another All-Pro caliber season and to be in the conversation for his first Defensive Player of the Year Award. If he can post another 12+ sack season with 70+ pressures, he might take over the No. 1 spot on this list in 2026.
