Simpleton
DCC 4Life
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Messages
- 17,585
Lots of people have been wondering why we've been moving Parsons around more lately against the Packers and Texans, and not just rushing him off the edge 100% of the time, and I think this is why:
What makes Parsons special is his otherworldly quickness, acceleration, first step and the ability to kind of slither through contact while activating that explosiveness to create angles. We've all seen him looking spent and hobbled at times and I think the coaches have to be extremely careful not to wear him down on the edge, not just over the next 6 weeks or so, but from year to year.
He's a very special player but his prime years could be short if we let him get worn down like a RB who takes too munch pounding and the entire organization needs to be cognizant of that.
This is why I think it's important to continue moving him around, particularly on neutral downs (i.e. likely running downs), so that offenses won't know exactly where he'll be and therefore won't be able to tee off on him with chips, running right at him and such. Obviously he's most impactful rushing the passer so when he's lining up at different spots he should be blitzing most of the time, but there's nothing wrong with giving him some light zone coverage-type responsibilities here and there either.
Personnel wise moving forward I'd like to see us continue investing in the front 7, ideally by adding a difference-making DT with size of course, but also by continuing to add depth in terms of "traditional" edge rushers so that we can continue moving Parsons around and not just sitting him on the end of the line 100% of the time to get beat up.
We already have a good start there with Lawrence (should have enough in the tank for 2-3 more years), Armstrong, Williams and potentially Fowler, but adding another edge rusher in the first 2-3 rounds would be a good idea just to give us maximum flexibility with a guy who should be a generational player.
Micah is only about 250 with sub-32 inch arms. He isn't 260-270 with 34-inch arms like Bosa or Myles Garrett. Even a guy like TJ Watt who isn't a behemoth edge rusher has 33+ inch arms, and that additional length makes a lot of difference in terms of keeping guys off you who outweigh you by 50-70 lbs.
What makes Parsons special is his otherworldly quickness, acceleration, first step and the ability to kind of slither through contact while activating that explosiveness to create angles. We've all seen him looking spent and hobbled at times and I think the coaches have to be extremely careful not to wear him down on the edge, not just over the next 6 weeks or so, but from year to year.
He's a very special player but his prime years could be short if we let him get worn down like a RB who takes too munch pounding and the entire organization needs to be cognizant of that.
This is why I think it's important to continue moving him around, particularly on neutral downs (i.e. likely running downs), so that offenses won't know exactly where he'll be and therefore won't be able to tee off on him with chips, running right at him and such. Obviously he's most impactful rushing the passer so when he's lining up at different spots he should be blitzing most of the time, but there's nothing wrong with giving him some light zone coverage-type responsibilities here and there either.
Personnel wise moving forward I'd like to see us continue investing in the front 7, ideally by adding a difference-making DT with size of course, but also by continuing to add depth in terms of "traditional" edge rushers so that we can continue moving Parsons around and not just sitting him on the end of the line 100% of the time to get beat up.
We already have a good start there with Lawrence (should have enough in the tank for 2-3 more years), Armstrong, Williams and potentially Fowler, but adding another edge rusher in the first 2-3 rounds would be a good idea just to give us maximum flexibility with a guy who should be a generational player.
