Micah Parsons throws shade at T. J. Watt, snubs Steelers LB from top 5 NFL pass rushers list

Last year, Dallas Cowboys superstar Micah Parsons caused a stir by claiming that former Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt wasn't among the best pass rushers in the league. He named himself, Cleveland Browns' Myles Garrett, San Francisco 49ers' Nick Bosa and Las Vegas Raiders' Maxx Crosby above the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, the only player in NFL history to lead the league in sacks thrice.

During an appearance on "The Zach Gelb Show" earlier this week, the host asked Parsons whether he had changed his controversial opinion. However, he doubled down and added Cincinnati Bengals' Trey Hendrickson to the list of pass rushers better than Watt. Gelb was astonished, but the Cowboys linebacker explained why he left Watt off his top five.

"If you look at what I do, you look at what Myles Garrett does, we all move around," Parsons said. "I play left, right, I play right tackle, I play nose, I play left guard, right guard... If you talk about pure pass rushers, it's about a few of us that's probably in a league of our own and everyone else is pretty much a high-end rushers.

"They don't have that versatility, they don't move around, they don't create matchups."

---

Micah Parsons raves about T.J. Watt

Micah Parsons added that while he doesn't believe T.J. Watt is among the best pure pass rushers in the NFL, he's easily among the finest defensive players in the league.

"When you ask these questions, you say pure pash rusher, you don't say like football player," Parsons said. "Do I think [T.J. Watt] is a top five defensive football player? Hell yeah. The way he creates turnovers. The things that he does on the field is unmatched. Creating six forced fumbles is great. I think he's top five defensive football player."

The Cowboys superstar also paid homage to Watt and claimed he's a future Hall of Famer. However, he continued to harp on the distinction between a pure pass rusher and a defensive player.

"I think he's one of the best football players to ever," Parsons said. "But you guys are saying a very singular part of it where you say a pure pass rusher, I say he does all those great things but he's probably not one of the top five pass rushers in the league, which is OK."

Parsons is right in claiming that Watt is more than just a pass rusher. However, not many would buy his take that the three-time sacks leader isn't among the best in the league in that role.