Micah Parsons has been called “a game-wrecker,” “a Lawrence Taylor-type player,” “the most dominant force in the NFL” and a lot of other descriptions with lofty praise.
But will the Cowboys linebacker be called a “Most Valuable Player” before his NFL career is over?
Will any active defensive player earn that title, for that matter?
“For any defensive player to win MVP,” one multi-time First-Team All-Pro on defense told Post Sports+, “he would have to do something absolutely ridiculous.”
History supports that argument — and sets a high bar for the definition of “absolutely ridiculous.”
Since the Giants’ Lawrence Taylor topped running back Eric Dickerson and quarterback Dan Marino to be named Associated Press NFL MVP in 1986 in recognition of his 20.5 sacks and leading the Giants to a 14-2 regular season, only one defensive player has garnered enough votes for a top-two finish: J.J. Watt was runner-up to Aaron Rodgers in 2014.
Michael Strahan’s record-breaking 22.5-sack season in 2001 and T.J. Watt’s record-tying 22.5-sack season in 2021 received the same number of MVP votes: zero.
Trevon Diggs also received zero votes in 2021 when he recorded 11 interceptions — the most by any player in 41 years. So did Ray Lewis in 1997 when he set an NFL record (that still stands) with 156 solo tackles. Eric Allen actually received one in 1993 when he scored four defensive touchdowns (most in a post-1986 season).
Three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald has earned zero career MVP votes.
So, Parsons’ fast four-game start to the season — 14 tackles, four sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one pass defended — puts him at the forefront of the discussion for Defensive Player of the Year, but MVP seems a long ways off.
The same goes for T.J. Watt (six sacks, two forced fumbles, two passes defended and a game-winning touchdown) or any of the other top pass rushers who have teed off early in 2023.
Post Sports+ asked a few of the voters for MVP — a panel of 50 national media, former coaches and former players that is kept private by the Associated Press — if there still is a scenario where a defensive player can win MVP or whether that ship has sailed.
“I’m not ready to close the MVP door on half the players in the league,” voter Armando Salguero of Outkick.com said. “But it would take something unprecedented in meeting certain criteria, in my opinion.
“Firstly, many of the voters have decided MVP votes focus on the most dynamic and productive player on a great team, typically a Super Bowl team. So, can a defensive player be that guy? It would take a lot because usually that’s an offensive player and, more precisely, the quarterback.
“My guess is we’d have to see the kind of season we’ve never seen from a defensive player on a Super Bowl-caliber team. Maybe someone with 28 or 30 sacks. Or someone with 15-17 interceptions, including a couple or three pick-sixes. Yes, improbable, I understand that. But that’s how you overcome 40 touchdown passes and 4,500 passing yards. Or 2,000 receiving or rushing yards.”
Voter Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk noted quarterbacks have won the past 10 MVPs, dating to Adrian Peterson’s win in 2012 when he defied medical logic by rushing for 2,097 yards coming off of a torn ACL and MCL. No receiver ever has won the award.
“It would have to take an extraordinary performance for a player — any player at any other position — to win the MVP award over a quarterback,” Williams said, further explaining why. “For the same reason quarterbacks make more money — significantly more money — than players at other positions.”
Parsons’ place on the Cowboys could subconsciously lift his candidacy in a couple ways.
Because of their undeniable place as “America’s Team,” the Cowboys get more national television broadcast slots than most teams and thus Parsons is exposed to a larger audience than some other comparable stars.
Also, because the Cowboys haven’t reached a Super Bowl since 1995, the driving force behind their next championship-caliber team could be seen as a big difference-maker in the age-old “most valuable” versus “best player” debate for MVPs across all sports.
Williams and Associated Press national football writer Rob Maaddi — who oversees the vote, but does not cast a ballot — both picked Parsons as the active defensive player most likely to end the drought.
“When Bill Belichick says you have Lawrence Taylor-like abilities,” Williams said, “then you probably are not only the best defensive player in the NFL currently but also a generational talent. Micah Parsons is that guy. If any defensive player has a chance even to rank in the top five, it’s Parsons.”
The AP changed the selection process for MVP (and other awards) last season so that each voter ranks a weighted top five instead of just picking a winner. Fifteen different players received at least one fifth-place vote, and defensive players finished sixth (Joey Bosa, 49ers) and eighth (Parsons).
“A major reason why I changed the voting system to a weighted scale and asked voters to rank five players in order instead of picking one guy for MVP was to give players at other positions a better opportunity for recognition,” Maaddi said. “Quarterbacks are the face of the franchise, and a team’s success is almost always dependent on their performance. You can make a case for most playoff teams that their most valuable player is the QB.”
NFL Defensive Player of the Year acts as a pseudo Defensive MVP, while NFL Offensive Player of the Year is on a four-year streak as unofficial “Best Non-Quarterback of the Year.”
“Right now, you could make the case that [49ers running back] Christian McCaffrey is the Most Valuable Player — he’s having that type of season,” said ESPN analyst Damien Woody, a former offensive lineman and non-voter. “But he won’t win it. One of these quarterbacks is going to surge, and when they do, they’re going to win it. That ship has sailed [for defense].”
MLB had a 19-year stretch when pitchers were limited to the Cy Young Award and not MVP, but Justin Verlander (2011) and Clayton Kershaw (2014) ended that drought before two-way unicorn Shohei Ohtani’s turn in 2021. If it can happen in baseball, maybe there is hope for an anomaly in football, too.
“This is the NFL’s doing,” Salguero said. “The league has stacked the deck for offense. Voters are simply reacting to what the league has engineered. Quarterbacks cannot get hit high or low, so they’re more likely to play the entire season throwing to receivers who cannot be hit certain ways either and rack up big stats. Receivers aren’t mugged all the way down the field anymore and don’t have to worry about middle-of-the-field head-hunters as much.
“Defenders, meanwhile, have to be careful about where they hit the QB in the pocket. Did Lawrence Taylor ever have that concern? I don’t think so. Also, it’s hard to find an example where a defensive player is the best and most valuable player on his own team and that team is rising to great heights like getting in the Super Bowl. L.T. was that. But the NFL of 2023 doesn’t recognize the game that the NFL played in 1986.”
The most bizarre marriage in the NFL still belongs to the Colts and Jonathan Taylor.
After Taylor was a full participant in his first practice (a walkthrough) since being designated to return from the Physically Unable to Perform list, it seems pretty clear the running back exaggerated his training-camp ankle injury as leverage in tense contract negotiations.
Not only did the Colts not give him an extension, they showed a willingness to play without him by putting him on PUP.
But things change fast in the NFL, so Taylor comes back to a different landscape than he left.
For instance, the Colts, who were thought to be one of the worst teams in the league, are 2-2 in a division where all four teams have the same record. If the playoffs are within reach, why trade the former NFL leading rusher?
Also, the Dolphins — thought to be among Taylor’s primary suitors after their offseason flirtations with trading for Saquon Barkley and signing Dalvin Cook — suddenly look set with the combination of rookie De’Von Achane and Raheem Mostert averaging 7.4 yards per carry with a total of 10 rushing touchdowns.
When the season began, the Browns never would’ve been in the market to trade for Taylor.
But with Nick Chubb out for the season, is a Jerome Ford-Kareem Hunt backfield enough to complement one of the NFL’s best defenses? The Bengals’ unexpected 1-3 start with a hobbled Joe Burrow has opened the door in the AFC North, and why shouldn’t the Browns run through it by adding Taylor?
The Packers, who also reportedly inquired about Taylor before the season, are “no longer in the mix,” according to NFL Network.
That’s a mistake given that Taylor — who played college football at Wisconsin — could help a rushing attack that ranked No. 29 in the NFL and is not likely to get any better while Aaron Jones deals with a hamstring injury.
There are NFC wild card berths available for the taking given the Giants’ and Vikings’ struggles, and Taylor’s impact on helping the Jordan Love era start off in the playoffs would pay long-term dividends whether he is in town just for the rest of this season, through 2024 on a franchise tag or an extension is worked out.
If you were a big spender during 2022 free agency, odds are that you are dealing with a case of buyer’s remorse only 19 months later. Wednesday was a big day for accepting it.
The Chargers traded cornerback J.C. Jackson (five years, $82.5 million) to the Patriots and the Broncos cut outside linebacker Randy Gregory (five years, $70 million), the combination of which drew attention to the free-agent class as a whole.
Jackson, who was beset by injuries last season, pocketed nearly $30 million to play in seven games for the Chargers, and the Broncos owe Gregory the rest of his $14 million guaranteed salary this season.
Of the 13 players who signed multi-year free-agent deals worth at least $14 million per year in 2022, five are no longer part of their teams: Jackson, Gregory, free-agent defensive end Chandler Jones (three years, $51 million with the Raiders), Steelers receiver Allen Robinson (three years, $46.5 million with the Rams) and Browns outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith (three years, $42 million with the Vikings).
Jackson, Gregory and Jones (who was arrested last week and had been away from the team since Labor Day weekend when he took aim at the Raiders’ brass on social media) all were in the AFC West, where defense is at a premium when facing the explosive Chiefs twice per season.
Injuries are also haunting those in the 2022 class: Bills outside linebacker Von Miller (six years, $120 million) has yet to play this season, Ravens safety Marcus Williams (five years, $70 million) has missed three games and Dolphins left tackle Terron Armstead (five years, $75 million) has missed two.
Finally, quarterback Jameis Winston (two years, $28 million to re-sign with the Saints) took a massive pay cut to avoid his release. Originally signed to succeed the retired Drew Brees as the starter, Winston lost his hold on the job to Andy Dalton last season and settled for being Derek Carr’s backup in 2023.
There are two obvious winners of 2022 free agency:
- The Jaguars, who turned their franchise around after giving big money to receiver Christian Kirk (four years, $72 million), guard Brandon Scherff (three years, $49.5 million) and linebacker Foyesade Olukun (three years, $45 million).
- The Eagles, who signed outside linebacker Haason Reddick to a relative bargain deal (three years, $45 million) for 17 sacks and five forced fumbles through 21 games.
No. 12 Oklahoma at No. 3 Texas, noon Saturday, ABC
Texas last produced a receiver drafted in the first round in 2004 (Roy Williams). It could produce two (Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell) plus a tight end (Ja’Tavion Sanders) in 2024.
Worthy is a nuanced route-runner with elite speed who can play outside or in the slot. Mitchell offers the downfield big-play ability that comes expected with his 6-foot-4 size. And Sanders is averaging a mind-boggling 21.4 yards per catch while showing improved tackle-breaking.
All three are catching the ball from QB Quinn Ewers — a candidate to be the third quarterback taken behind USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye. Ewers’ arm talent leaves scouts drooling.
All of them will be facing the Big 12’s No. 1-ranked scoring defense.
There’s not a likely first-round pick on the Oklahoma defense — the Sooners’ top prospect is offensive tackle Tyler Guyton — but linebacker Danny Stutsman is one of the surest tacklers (49, including nine for loss) in college football, according to Pro Football Focus. Put him on your early “sleepers” list for Day 2 picks.