Cowboys All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons possesses new-found, on-field 'free will' under new DC Mike Zimmer

FRISCO, Texas -- Great players want to be challenged because routine dominance is boring. 

Dallas Cowboys three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons is certainly dominant. He and Pro Football Hall of Famer Reggie White are the only players since sacks have been tracked as individual statistic (since 1982) with at least 13 sacks in each of their first three seasons. In his third season under former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, now the head coach of the Washington Commanders, in 2023, Parsons produced to new heights. 

He paced the entire league in quarterback pressures (103), quarterback pressure rate (21.8%) and pass rush win rate (35.3%) -- when a defender beats his block in less than 2.5 seconds. Factoring in that Parsons was double-teamed on 35% of his pass rush plays in 2023, the most in the league among edge players, per the NFL's Next Gen Stats. There wasn't another edge rusher in the NFL who was double-teamed at a rate of 30% or higher last season.

However, he was experiencing a monotony of regularly lining up against other NFL teams' left tackle and going to battle. That was obviously a successful tactic because of the aforementioned production. What new Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer has done to activate Parsons' mind on essentially every snap, starting with Dallas' 33-17 victory at the Cleveland Browns in Week 1, is provide him more leadership and on-field decision-making than he has ever had before. Zimmer is now allowing Parsons to align himself along the called defensive front how he sees fit and select his matchup. 

The result was Parsons registering a sack and an NFL Week 1-best 11 quarterback pressures in Cleveland. He only had three career games with double-digit pressures in his first three seasons. He is one-for-one in racking up that level of consistent intimidation under Zimmer and more mentally engaged than ever before and feeling a need to reward Zimmer's faith. That's the challenge. 

"It really gets me going because it makes me lock in a little bit more," Parsons said of Zimmer's system on Wednesday. "I'm used to 'alright Micah, go to the right side and best on best [vs the left tackle].' ... The fact that I got the creativity to control things where I know I got to be on my A-game always because I got these other guys depending on me now to like controlling that [alignment]. It kind of gets me more excited, it gets me more into it. It gets that drive, that hunger just a little bit more. Now I feel like I just can't let this guy [Zimmer] down. He's giving me the keys to the system. I got to be accountable myself for him. ... I think it's making the group talk more cause we have talk to each other. ... No coaches, just calling what we're doing. We're learning that we control the game. It's given a lot more to the players and I think we all take it in the right direction."

Micah Parsons' career defensive snap alignment

*Data according to Pro Football Focus

Even though Parsons lined up as a defensive lineman on 57 of his 63 defensive snaps on sending according to PFF, Parsons' defensive line pre-snap alignment was incredibly varied despite both Parsons and Zimmer saying they "didn't open up the full bag" against the Browns in Week 1. 

"Not with that much free will," Parsons said when asked if he has ever played with that many different alignments in a game. "Zimm and [defensive line coach] Jeff [Zgonina] got so much confidence in me. I'm setting in the front especially when we get into the games and third down situations."

Micah Parsons Defensive Line Alignment, Week 1 at Browns

Per PFF

• 3 snaps at left defensive end (LDE, defender lined up on or shading the right tackle in a three-point stance)
• 5 snaps at outside left defensive end (LEO, defender lined up completely outside of the right tackle and in a three-point stance)
• 27 snaps at left outside linebacker (LOLB, defender lined up 1.5 yards or less from the line of scrimmage, lined up on the inside shade of the right tackle or wider and in a two-point stance)
• 12 snaps at outside right defensive end (REO, defender lined up completely outside of the left tackle and in a three-point stance)
• 10 snaps at right outside linebacker (ROLB, defender lined up 1.5 yards or less from the line of scrimmage, lined up on the inside shade of the left tackle or wider and in a two-point stance)

* 57 of 63 defensive snaps along defensive line in Week 1

The Browns' three interior offensive lineman -- left guard Joel Bitonio (six Pro Bowls), center Kevin Zeitler (one Pro Bowl) and right guard Wyatt Teller (three Pro Bowls) -- have been to combined 10 Pro Bowls, and Parsons desired to go at all three of them in addition to Cleveland's offensive tackles. 

"I just want to test everybody's water," Parsons said. "I want to test the pot. I want to which guy I can manipulate. I know some guys is always looking for the fish. You know me. I don't care who it is, you know, [Joel] Bitonio. I think he's a great guy. [Kevin] Zeitler, the center is pretty good. For me, it wasn't even about the tactics. It's just about me, like I'm the best, and I can just go against whoever."  

However, Parsons felt like he left sacks on the table against Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson given he had just one in 11 quarterback pressures. 

"I think I missed like two or three [sacks], bro," Parsons said postgame on Sunday. "He [Watson] is tough. ... I'm going to have nightmares tonight, for sure. I'm supposed to start this year off with three [sacks] but it's ok. When it rains, it pours. No excuses. No excuses. I got to be better. I felt like it was the first day of camp again. I was tired. The nerves. Facing another opponent again for the first time. ... To my standard to where I want to be, I don't think I played to my best."        

Zimmer took the blame for his All-Pro finishing with just a single sack, saying on Monday, "We need to as coaches, we need to do a better job of helping him out with some other alignments, so he's not getting chipped every single play." When Parsons walked into The Star, the Cowboys' team facility, on Wednesday morning, Zimmer was waiting to deliver him some adjustments. 

"As soon I come in this morning, I'm sitting with him. He's like, 'I got this new package in for you,'" Parsons said. '"This will help you clear away some of the chips [getting blocked by a running back and/or tight end in addition to a lineman] and get you away from some of them.' Things like that. It go to shows you, he doesn't just talk about it, he does it. He plans on using it. ... Yeah they were showing me everything I'm supposed to do. We're going to put it in tomorrow [Thursday at the tea's padded practice], obviously. He already had everything prepared. It was like, 'we're gonna find a ways to get you one on ones.'"

Horsing around

Once the defensive coordinator and his superstar pupil conclude preparing for the 1-0 New Orleans Saints, who whipped the Carolina Panthers 47-10 in Week 1, the conversation shifts to horses. 

"I kind of just look at him sometimes to see if he speaks, but he doesn't say much at all," Parsons said of Zimmer. "Then, I might get a random text at night [that says], 'Hey, great job today. You really played hard. I appreciate that. I appreciate how you play.' Sometimes he may text me about his horses, so I think that means we're getting closer. I think we're about to get a horse together? I was like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool. Do I get 10% of the horse?' He's like, 'Yeah, but you've got to pay child support,' and I was like 'whoa!' It's the training fees and stuff like that. I think he has a funny way of building connections. He kind of builds connections in his own way, and I think that's what separates him. He's definitely different. He's not a man of many words, so if you get some words out of him, that's a good sign."

Zimmer is even prepared to name the horse after his All-Pro pass rusher. 

"He says he's going to name it Parsons," Parson said. "Yeah, Parsons, the horse, so when you see me at the Kentucky Derby with my hat on, with my boots on. I know nothing [about horses], but I'm slowly catching up."

Both the Kentucky Derby and the NFL may soon find how deadly of a combination Parsons and Zimmer could truly be.