Simpleton
DCC 4Life
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Messages
- 17,595
For years now I've seen people conflating "pass rush" from an actual edge rusher who plays 3-4 OLB/4-3 DE like a DeMarcus Ware, Von Miller or Khalil Mack and pressure or blitzing ability from someone like Jaylon Smith. People have long wondered if we could unlock some sort of "pass rush" potential out of Smith when in reality there is a stark difference between getting pressure and putting up nearly 10 sacks off blitzes from someone like Devin White or Jamal Adams and the pass rush/edge rush you get out of a Ware or Mack.
Jaylon Smith was never going to be any sort of edge rusher in a traditional sense, although because of his elite athleticism pre-injury he could've been a hugely dynamic blitzer, but even then I think his potential pales in comparison to what I've seen from Parsons.
To be clear, if you were to grade Parsons as a full-time edge rusher, akin to a Ware or Mack, he might go sometime day 3 given his average size, very poor length (31.5 or so inch arms), and relative lack of physicality for what would basically be a 4-3 DE going up against OT's all day. But what makes him so special is the same thing that makes Jamal Adams so special, they have rare athleticism/explosiveness and a general knack for pressuring the QB from a non-traditional pressure position ("safety" for Adams/traditional "off-ball" LB for Parsons, but let's call it a 4-3 Will/Mike to be more clear).
The difference is that while Parsons will never be a full-time edge player he actually has some legitimate pass rush technique from his days playing DE in HS, which is something you literally never see from traditional LB's coming out of college. He isn't just blitzing past or through a TE or RB, he actually deployed a cohesive pass rush plan/hand use/technique against college OL at times with moves that you'd expect to only see out of a full-time DE or DT.
Here he uses a chop/club to get the LG (64) off-balance and defeat their hands, combined with a subtle, yet seamless swim to get past his edge:
This would be advanced technique from a 1st round DE coming out of college, let alone a LB. Hell, half the time it takes DL a year or two after they get in the league to develop this sort of technique to the point where it's this smooth.
You can see it closer at 9:09 here:
This is basically a 4-3 Mike/Will busting out a chop+swim on a LG with 3:40 left in the 4th quarter down by 5 on the road for a sack to force a 3rd and 15+. You might never see that type of hand use/rush plan out of blitzing NFL LB's, let alone someone in college.
You might be thinking, well yea, that's nice but it's just against some stiff interior OL from Minnesota.
Check this out at 1:32:
That play doesn't show up in the stat sheet because the QB got the ball out in basically 2 seconds, but this is a 4-3 Mike/Will leaving a college RT (73) flailing and nearly on the ground with a spin move. And not just any college OT, Jalen Mayfield, the 2021 68th overall pick.
Even guys like Devin White and Jamal Adams don't do shit like this after 2-3+ years in the league, they're putting up 6-8+ sacks thanks to pretty much just attacking downhill with elite explosiveness/athleticism/closing speed. They might bowl over a TE or RB with a crude bull rush here or there but they never beat guys with a pass rush plan/technique you'd see from actual DL.
The crazy thing is that Parsons has the same general explosiveness/athleticism but the added variation of experience hand-fighting with linemen from his HS days that makes him even more dangerous as a blitzer/auxiliary rusher. Someone like Anthony Barr who played DE in college has some of this in his game of course but he also doesn't run anywhere near a 4.4 like Parsons.
He has to be utilized correctly by the defensive staff to fully realize his potential but people shouldn't think of him in the context of your heady, ultra fast-processing 4-3 LB's like Lee, Kuechly, etc. who put up 150 tackles a year. He isn't going to do that, but if he's unleashed as a blitzer this is a guy who can give you sideline to sideline athleticism to handle perimeter jet sweeps/screens/outside zone runs, who is big/physical enough to bang in a phone booth between the tackles, and most importantly be one of these rare non-DL who can easily give you 7-8+ sacks in any given season.
He's a rare weapon if deployed properly.
Jaylon Smith was never going to be any sort of edge rusher in a traditional sense, although because of his elite athleticism pre-injury he could've been a hugely dynamic blitzer, but even then I think his potential pales in comparison to what I've seen from Parsons.
To be clear, if you were to grade Parsons as a full-time edge rusher, akin to a Ware or Mack, he might go sometime day 3 given his average size, very poor length (31.5 or so inch arms), and relative lack of physicality for what would basically be a 4-3 DE going up against OT's all day. But what makes him so special is the same thing that makes Jamal Adams so special, they have rare athleticism/explosiveness and a general knack for pressuring the QB from a non-traditional pressure position ("safety" for Adams/traditional "off-ball" LB for Parsons, but let's call it a 4-3 Will/Mike to be more clear).
The difference is that while Parsons will never be a full-time edge player he actually has some legitimate pass rush technique from his days playing DE in HS, which is something you literally never see from traditional LB's coming out of college. He isn't just blitzing past or through a TE or RB, he actually deployed a cohesive pass rush plan/hand use/technique against college OL at times with moves that you'd expect to only see out of a full-time DE or DT.
Here he uses a chop/club to get the LG (64) off-balance and defeat their hands, combined with a subtle, yet seamless swim to get past his edge:
This would be advanced technique from a 1st round DE coming out of college, let alone a LB. Hell, half the time it takes DL a year or two after they get in the league to develop this sort of technique to the point where it's this smooth.
You can see it closer at 9:09 here:
This is basically a 4-3 Mike/Will busting out a chop+swim on a LG with 3:40 left in the 4th quarter down by 5 on the road for a sack to force a 3rd and 15+. You might never see that type of hand use/rush plan out of blitzing NFL LB's, let alone someone in college.
You might be thinking, well yea, that's nice but it's just against some stiff interior OL from Minnesota.
Check this out at 1:32:
That play doesn't show up in the stat sheet because the QB got the ball out in basically 2 seconds, but this is a 4-3 Mike/Will leaving a college RT (73) flailing and nearly on the ground with a spin move. And not just any college OT, Jalen Mayfield, the 2021 68th overall pick.
Even guys like Devin White and Jamal Adams don't do shit like this after 2-3+ years in the league, they're putting up 6-8+ sacks thanks to pretty much just attacking downhill with elite explosiveness/athleticism/closing speed. They might bowl over a TE or RB with a crude bull rush here or there but they never beat guys with a pass rush plan/technique you'd see from actual DL.
The crazy thing is that Parsons has the same general explosiveness/athleticism but the added variation of experience hand-fighting with linemen from his HS days that makes him even more dangerous as a blitzer/auxiliary rusher. Someone like Anthony Barr who played DE in college has some of this in his game of course but he also doesn't run anywhere near a 4.4 like Parsons.
He has to be utilized correctly by the defensive staff to fully realize his potential but people shouldn't think of him in the context of your heady, ultra fast-processing 4-3 LB's like Lee, Kuechly, etc. who put up 150 tackles a year. He isn't going to do that, but if he's unleashed as a blitzer this is a guy who can give you sideline to sideline athleticism to handle perimeter jet sweeps/screens/outside zone runs, who is big/physical enough to bang in a phone booth between the tackles, and most importantly be one of these rare non-DL who can easily give you 7-8+ sacks in any given season.
He's a rare weapon if deployed properly.
