Micah Parsons NFL Draft Prospect Profile

Yahoo Sports’ lead draft analyst Eric Edholm shares his evaluation of the Penn State linebacker.

Video Transcript

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ERIC EDHOLM: Penn State linebacker, Micah Parsons, was a breakout player in the 2019 season. One of the best linebackers in the country that year, but he opted out in 2020, leading to some questions about his evaluation. That said, on the upside, we're talking about somebody with great physical traits, nearly as big as an edge rusher and he also blitzes very well. You combine that with terrific explosion and burst, Parsons will slam the door shut against the run or attack quarterbacks equally as well.

On the downside, he's still developing his linebacker instincts, especially in coverage, learning how to read his keys and diagnose just a little better. A little rawness to his game. Plus, there are some character issues that teams need to figure out on their own. For an NFL Comp, I like to say Bobby Wagner could be the type of player he could become, but we're actually going to go with Wagner's teammate, KJ Wright, a player who I think Parsons is more physically similar to.