2021 NFL Mock Draft: Washington Football Team goes offense in Round 1

Micah Parsons finally comes off the board here. He was getting a ton of consideration from top-10 teams, but he fell due to teams opting for other positions.

That said, Parsons is still very talented. He proved as much in 2019 when he posted a monster stat line for a good Penn State team. He played in 13 games and notched 109 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, five sacks, and five pass defenses. Impressively, he notched four fumbles for the Nittany Lions as well.

Parson is every bit as good as that stat line indicates. His instincts are terrific and his size is great for a linebacker (6-foot-3, 245 pounds). He’s a good downhill playmaker but is also strong in coverage. In short, he pops off the film as a true, three-down linebacker. Those are hard to find in the NFL, but most good defenses have one.

If you’re looking for any proof that Parsons had a big impact on his team, just look at Penn State’s defense in 2020 compared to 2019. Parsons sat out the 2020 season, and Penn State felt his absence. They allowed 27.7 points per game in 2020 (55th-ranked in the country of 127 teams) compared to 16 per game in 2019 (eighth-ranked in the country). They lost players aside from Parsons, but needless to say, his impact was missed.

All that said, Parsons represents a good value for the Giants here and would help to upgrade an up-and-coming defense. Blake Martinez is a good starting linebacker but adding Parsons to play next to him would improve an already-good Giants run defense and make them strong in the middle of the field.

The Giants could use a pass rusher like Rousseau or Phillips here and they could consider a cornerback like Farley, but for now, Parsons is just too good of a value to pass on. Joe Judge will find a way to utilize him well.