Most Dallas Cowboys fans mourned Micah Parsons’ trade to the Green Bay Packers, except for one individual. Skip Bayless, a longtime TV personality on ESPN and FOX Sports and lifelong Cowboys fanatic, celebrated that Parsons was no longer in Arlington. Bayless posted several videos, defending Jerry Jones’ decision to let Parsons leave for a rival despite his pedigree as an elite linebacker. In the latest clip, he called the All-Pro pass rusher the most ‘overhyped’ and ‘soon to be overpaid’ player in the NFL.
Why? From Bayless’s point of view, NFL defenses discovered Parsons’ Achilles heel within the first four years of his career. There’s no denying that he recorded 12+ sacks each season, but he never showed up in the postseason.In 2024, the Cowboys had the second-worst run defense in the NFL, allowing a staggering 0.084 EPA/play—a stat that got Al Davis fired from his job. While Parsons’ elite skills were on display during pass rush (91.6 grade from PFF), he only had a 65.5 grade (72nd best in the league) in stopping the run. Skip Bayless ranted:Micah Parsons is obviously no Myles Garrett. He’s no T.J. Watt. He’s not even a Trey Hendrickson to me. He’s not a physical run-stopping football player, and the opposition realized, ‘Let’s just run at him, run him off the field.Teams have begun to charge straight at Parsons in the last couple of years. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said following the trade:We need to stop the run, and we haven’t been able to stop the run at key times for several years. When you have the kind of extraordinary pass rush that Micah had, then the way to mitigate that pass rush is to run at you.Kenny Clark may be the answer the Cowboys were searching for. During his last Pro Bowl season (2023), Clark ranked 10th in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity, had a career-high 61 pressures and 12 quarterback hits, and had an average tackle that limited the gain to 1.5 yards. The Packers’ run defense was 0.18 yards per attempt better when he was on the field.If the Cowboys stick to that logic, then Clark should be their savior. However, he won’t be starting anytime soon. Sam Williams is listed as Parsons’ replacement, followed by Dante Fowler and Marshawn Kneeland in the first unofficial depth chart. All three had worse run defense grades compared to Parsons.The worst part is that the Cowboys will play the Philadelphia Eagles in week one. The defending world champions averaged 179.3 yards per game last year (second most).