Cowboys DC Mike Zimmer details how he’ll deploy Micah Parsons, discusses Dallas defense’s next steps

FRISCO, Texas – Dallas Cowboys three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons is on a generational start NFL career. The word “generational” is probably used too casually in sports analysis these days, but in Parsons’ case, it’s appropriate.

Parsons is one of five players – Hall of Famers Reggie White, Derrick Thomas, Dwight Freeney and Aldon Smith – to total at least 40 sacks (40.5) in their first three seasons. During his third season, 2023, Parsons 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 lock in less than 2.5 seconds. Surprising when you consider that Parsons has been double-teamed on 35% of his pass rush plays in 2023, the most in the league among edge players, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. There was no other edge rusher in the NFL who double-teamed at a rate of 30% or more last season.

That’s why, New Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer won’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to Parsons’ usage compared to how he was deployed under former DC Dan Quinn, who was hired to become the head coach of the Washington Commanders this offseason.

“He doesn’t need to take a lot of steps,” Zimmer said Tuesday when asked about Parsons’ development. “We were sitting there again this morning talking about other things we can do with it. He’s such a dynamic player that I said this the other day: ‘Attacks will always know where he is.’ They will become protections for him, have the help chip in their back, no matter what it is. In a lot of the games that he played last year that I watched, the offenses had a good scheme where they ran two tight ends on him and. all these things. So obviously we’re going to move him around, do different things with him, but we’re going to use him in some ways where we’re going to get the protection turned the way we want and be able to win. On the other side, sometimes we will try to overload a protection where he gets one-on-one.”

Parsons began his career lining up predominantly at inside linebacker after being selected 12th overall in 2021. NFL Draft, but after both of Dallas’ defensive starters, DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory, missed time with injuries that season, he shined lining up along the defensive line. Parsons finished his rookie year with 13 sacks, good enough to earn Defensive Rookie of the Year, Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro honors. Since then, he has been utilized in that pass rush-focused role as a defensive end for the past two seasons.

Micah Parsons’ Career Defensive Snap Alignment

*Data according to Pro Football Focus

When asked if he would encourage Parsons’ sumo wrestling training that he did in Japan earlier this month as part of a football development trip in Asia with Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, Zimmer joked: “He probably could have done this to me.”

Zimmer ready to revamp Dallas’ defense, won’t tear it down and start from scratch

Zimmer has been an NFL defensive coordinator in three different stints, including a previous one with the Cowboys: seven seasons with Dallas from 2000-2006, one season with the Atlanta Falcons in 2007 and six seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals from 2008-2013. he also called defensive plays for the Minnesota Vikings as their head coach for eight seasons from 2014-2021.

Prior to his arrival in Atlanta – the Falcons ranked 15th in scoring in 2006 (20.5 points per game allowed), Cincinnati – the Bengals ranked 24th in scoring in 2007 (24.1 points per game allowed) and Minnesota – the Vikings came in last place. on defense in 2013 (30.0 points allowed per game), the defensive units Zimmer was tasked with leading were either slightly above average or struggling. That’s not the case in Dallas. The Cowboys were in the top five in 2023, allowing just 18.5 points per game, which is good for the fifth-best scoring defense in the NFL. That means Zimmer is entering his second stint as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator with a different perspective.

“It’s like I told the defense the first day I got here,” Zimmer said. “’This is a different business for me. Normally, when I come in, the defense is not good.’ And they’re very good… We have to move forward on some of the things they were doing well and try to improve the things they weren’t doing so well.

Quinn, Zimmer’s predecessor, didn’t get the Commanders’ head coaching job for no reason. His Dallas defenses were consistently top five in scoring and led the NFL in quarterback pressure rate (41.4%), interceptions (59), takeaways (93) and defensive touchdowns (15) from 2021-2023.

Cowboys defense under Dan Quinn since 2021

“For the most part, they played really well and we’re going to try to accentuate that and maybe be a little more technique oriented, maybe a little more disciplined,” Zimmer said. “At the end of the day, we have to do it the way I want. I know [when] You try to come in and do someone else’s thing, it just doesn’t work.”

One area where the Cowboys defense could improve is in the running game. They allowed 112.4 rushing yards per game in the 2023 regular season, 16th among 32 teams, and Dallas was slashed on the ground in four of their six losses last season, including the playoffs: They allowed 266 rushing yards to the Bills in Week 15 (a 31-10 loss), 222 rushing yards at the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3 (28-16 loss), 170 rushing yards at the 49ers in Week 5 (42-10 loss), and 143 rushing yards against the seventh-ranked Packers in their 48-32 wild card playoff loss (a game they trailed 27-0).

An organic way for Zimmer to improve the Cowboys’ run defense would be to get a higher level of play from the team’s 2023 first-round pick (26th overall), defensive tackle Mazi Smith. He recorded 13 tackles, one sack, eight quarterback pressures and just three tackles for loss while playing in all 17 regular season games in 2023 with three starts. Smith played just four snaps in the team’s loss to Green Bay. Much of his struggles can be attributed to inconsistency in his structure. Smith was listed at 337 pounds by Michigan in 2022 – his wCurrent weight listed by the Cowboys – and 323 pounds at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine.

That number dropped below 300 pounds during the 2023 season in an effort to better fit Quinn’s defense.

“He lost a lot of weight when he got here,” Zimmer said. “He was trying to be a three-technique attacker to get up the field. …” Obviously, he was a high draft pick. I heard he struggled last year, so let’s start with the basics: get him in good posture, get him to use his hands the right way, do his footwork the right way and go from there.”

Now, Zimmer will ask Smith to be more of a bigger defensive lineman in his scheme.

“We’re probably going to play blocks a little more and try not to get hit so the linebackers know where they’re supposed to fit in, and so on,” Zimmer said talking about Smith. “That’s the most important thing. … Yes, that’s what he did in college.”

He has yet to see Smith on the practice field after the defenseman underwent offseason shoulder surgery, but Smith is already over 300 with an “ideal weight” goal agreed upon between Zimmer and Smith.

“He told me he’s 305 years old now,” Zimmer said. “I’m going to maintain his ideal weight for myself. … I talked to him yesterday and asked him what weight he was comfortable with, so we have to get him to that point first and then get his strength back, and then we’ll let him out.” here on the field. We expect him to be a good player like he was in college, and that’s how we have to act.