5 most surprising players from the Dallas Cowboys’ 2021 season

1. Micah Parsons

Stats: 84 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 3 pass deflections

This being the top surprise is no surprise, if that makes any sense. The fact that teams questioned his development as a pass-rusher and his “lack of sideline-to-sideline speed” is merely laughable.

I’m not going to act like the Cowboys’ are geniuses for picking Micah Parsons though. Everybody knew that the Joneses wanted either Jaycee Horn or Patrick Surtain II at pick number 10, but decided to trade back after both were picked ahead of them. Fans felt they had to “settle” with Parsons, which ended up being a blessing in disguise for America’s Team.

The former Nittany Lion’s stats jump off the paper at first glance, and even more so when you get into more advanced statistics. According to Pro Football Focus, in just his first season in the NFL, Parsons ranked as the top linebacker in the NFL overall and also finished first in linebackers in pass rushing.

The fact that the numbers don’t even tell the whole story with this Cowboy makes it even better. He affects the game in ways that don’t show up on stat sheets every single game. You can look at just one game here against the Cardinals in Week 17 to see that. The first-round pick disrupts play after play that don’t come up in the numbers.

In a season where the team enjoyed a lot of victories, mostly in the regular season, a lot of the success was due to players stepping up unexpectedly. It’s easy to be down about the season after a disappointing playoff loss. However, there is still a lot to be excited with Dallas for the foreseeable future, especially considering all five of these players are returning next year.