Nick Wright’s Bold Prediction: Cowboys Must Bring Micah Parsons into Reality – Great

Not many media members have high hopes for the Dallas Cowboys this season. Some have labeled 2023 as Super Bowl or bust, but FS1’s Nick Wright has praised the Cowboys within reason every step of the way this offseason.

How could he not, right?

The trades for Brandin Cooks and Stephon Gilmore speak for themselves, but Wright vehemently believes the Cowboys boast the NFL’s best defense and he fully expects Dak Prescott to bounce back from a polarizing 2022 season.

How bullish is the First Things First co-host on the Cowboys? He has them making the Super Bowl, albeit in losing fashion to his hometown Chiefs. It’s a gaudy prediction from Wright, but one he believes Micah Parsons will spearhead as the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year.

Wright anticipates a 20-sack season from Parsons, but he also foresees the two-time All-Pro catching a touchdown this season!

Fast forward to the 5-minute mark for Wright’s predictions.

Chris Broussard has refused to buy into the Cowboys hype, largely because of the team’s long-standing playoff failures. Despite that, though, Broussard is one of the aforementioned media members who thinks 2023 is championship or bust for Dallas because of the team’s brand and national draw.

Wright, however, makes a compelling pitch to his colleague.

There have only been 13 players to post 20 sacks in a single season, including newly-minted Cowboys Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware. Parsons posted 13.5 sacks last year after notching 13 as a rookie. If he’s unleashed as a full-time DE after bulking up this offseason, 20 sacks is well within reach for the third-year pro.

But catching a touchdown? That seems unlikely, but it wasn’t long ago the Cowboys schemed a touchdown for right tackle Terence Steele. In Week 16 of the 2021 season against Washington, Steele was deemed an eligible receiver and sprung loose at the goal line for a wide-open TD catch.

Designing a play on offense for a full-time defensive player is much more complicated than an offensive linemen, but nobody would expect Parsons to be on the field and McCarthy is plenty creative to make it happen.

This season has the potential to be career-defining for Parsons if everything falls into place. If he catches a touchdown on top of logging 20 sacks and taking home DPOY honors, we’d be talking about one of the best individual seasons in the history of the franchise.

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