Parsons has an athletic profile almost unmatched by anyone that’s come before him, with an elite blend of size, speed, and smarts. He projects best as a MIKE Linebacker, for a 4-3 team, but he’s honestly good enough to play any LB spot and man/zone for anyone.

Strengths: 

  • Physical Traits

Micah Parsons is gifted with elite physical traits. He’s 6’3 245, which is big for a linebacker but he is also extremely fast and agile. His strength and length help him out a lot as well.

  • Great Processing

As a run defender his processing and reacting ability is pretty good and even when he guesses wrong he rarely overcommits and he has the athleticism to get back into the play.

  • Amazing Football IQ

One thing Micah Parsons does extremely well is align the defense and order other players before the play. His instincts are often very good as well allowing him to make plays no one else can. Mentally, his processing in the run game is extremely quick and in the passing game he is rarely tricked by leak outs and other route concepts designed to fool linebackers. 

  • Block Shedding Ability

Parsons has great strength which he uses to the maximum of their ability because of his long arms. He stays away from blockers and can move them from far away. When he is fully engaged on block he still does better than average at getting off of these blocks.

  • Fights through Traffic

Parsons is able to parse through traffic incredibly well from moving from one side of the field to the other. He rarely gets picked off and he has a good feel for where blockers area at all times.

  • Amazing Change of Direction

He has great lower body flexibility and change of direction which allow him to affect plays even when an offensive lineman is coming right at him.

  • Advanced Pass Rusher

Parsons is also amazing when rushing the passer as an OLB or as a blitzer. As a pass rusher he has edge rusher type of strength and he’s got three amazing moves, his dip move, his swim move, and his arm under. His hand placement when rushing is great as well. He’s extremely creative as a pass rusher. When blitzing he hits gaps extremely quickly and doesn’t often miss tackles.

  • Good Tackler

For the most part he’s a surefire tackler who wraps up and tackles the right way.

  • High Effort Player

Micah Parsons is a guy who is always running until the last whistle and with his great athleticism he makes a couple of plays just because of this.

  • Shows Promise in Zone Coverage

In zone coverage there are a few reps where he plays his zone perfectly and is able to take away multiple receivers in one play.  His footwork in zone for the most part is good and he can gain ground extremely quickly backward and laterally which is very good to see. 

  • Solid in Man as Well

In man coverage, he did a pretty good job manning up Nick Eubanks of Michigan. His mirroring technique and trail technique are both solid, he’s still got room to grow when reading receivers.

Weaknesses: 

  • Still Needs Work in Coverage

One area where he’s somewhat lacking is in pass coverage, something that will need to improve at the NFL level. Sometimes in zone he looks confused and doesn’t check back on the receiver resulting in easy completions. He has limited snaps in man coverage and has a few bad plays in man on his tape.

  • Not Amazing Instincts

His instincts aren’t the greatest in the world but he rarely overcommits and always finds himself back in the play.

  • Doesn’t Have a Rush Plan

When rushing the passer he’s ahead of other linebackers but he doesn’t always have a rush plan and there are plays where he does nothing.

Player Comp: Micah Parsons is such a freak of an athlete that it’s pretty hard to give a player comparison for him. If I had to give one I would say Luke Kuechly formerly of the Carolina Panthers. Parsons and Keuchly both have similar size profiles with amazing movement skills especially at their size. They both are extremely smart and can be very good in coverage, with them also both possessing great blitzing abilities. There are some discrepancies with Kuechly being smarter than Parsons even as smart as Parsons is, and Keuchly also had better ball skills and was more of a playmaker. Parsons does however, have longer arms than Kuechly which helps.

Final Thoughts: I’m around the general consensus with my opinion on Parsons as I believe that Parsons is going to be an amazing linebacker at the next level. There are some concerns about his character but as far as I know that shouldn’t affect his evaluation too much. He has few weaknesses and a lot of strengths with some being able to be improved upon at the NFL level. He’s going to be an immediate impact player and I think he should go picks 7-12 in the 1st round of the draft. One team fit that I really like for Parsons is the Panthers where Parsons could fill that Keuchly role, replacing Tahir Whitehead. Some other teams that Parsons would fit in well with are the Giants and Raiders.