The NFL has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to stud pass rushers. Their presence is arguably one reason why scoring is down across the league this season. But when it comes to LeSean McCoy’s argument, most Steelers’ fans would probably just call it an embarrassment.
On a recent episode of FOX Sports’ Speak that featured McCoy as an analyst, the show argued over who the top pass rushers in football are. Emmanuel Acho vouched for Watt and his game-changing impacts. For McCoy, Parsons was his pick.
“T.J. Watt is amazing,” McCoy began. “He’s amazing. But it looks different with Micah. You can put Micah anywhere. You can put him as a standup linebacker, on the outside. Micah might be the best dude on the team…if they wanted to, Micah might be able to play tight end, play running back.”
Parsons broke into the league as the 12th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, a freakish athlete at Penn State who had some of the best pre-draft workout results ever for the position. At 6031, 246 pounds, Parsons ran a 4.39 40 at his Pro Day with a 34-inch vertical, 10’6″ broad, and 6.96 three cone time. For projected great pass rushers, any three cone time under seven seconds is considered outstanding.
In his third year, Parsons has lived up to expectations. As a rookie, he finished with 13 sacks and three forced fumbles on his way to being named Defensive Rookie of the Year and finishing second to Watt for Defensive Player of the Year. He followed that up with a 13.5 sack campaign in 2022 and again finished second in DPOY voting, this time trialing Nick Bosa.
McCoy is correct that Parsons’ versatility makes him more unique than other great EDGE rushers in football. He’s capable of playing off-ball linebacker or rushing against tackles. Watt is a more static player. But Watt has been more productive and a game-wrecker in clutch moments with a larger body of work and more hardware. Watt has three seasons with more sacks than Parsons has had, including tying the NFL record with 22.5 in 2021. Despite an early bye week, he’s currently tied for the sack lead with eight and on pace to break the NFL’s all-time mark.
Still, McCoy wasn’t convinced.
“He’s a really good player but he’s not Micah Parsons.”
An exasperated Acho tried to remind the panel how good Watt is.
“T.J. Watt is nearly to 100 sacks. And we’re like, ‘he’s a good player. He’s a really good player,'” pointing out how flippantly some in the media talk about Watt without giving him his proper credit.
Former NFL WR James Jones backed Acho up, pointing out Dallas’ large market and share of TV time gives Parsons the public perception advantage.
“With the way T.J. Watt is playing this year, scooping the ball up, scoring touchdowns, sacks, closing out games. If him and Micah were switched, the show would be about T.J. Watt.”
But no facts or insight Acho, Jones, and Joy Taylor could provide was enough to sway McCoy.
“Micah is a different creature.”
Much of the conversation revolved around Parsons versus Watt. But there’s other top names in the mix. When it comes to Steelers’ fans and the AFC North, the arguments are Watt versus Myles Garrett. Watt has the numbers, Garrett has more freak show moments and that debate will rage on for years. Evidently, so will Watt against Parsons.
Watch the whole debate and discussion below.
