I was noticing in your countdown the other day about Micah Parsons maybe getting more than just 64 tackles last year. Do you really think that's a good thing? I think I'm fine with his tackle number if he can maybe get the sacks up to around 15 or even 20? — Frank A. Mosely / Bartlesville, OK
Kyle: Great question. It's been seen before that a higher number of tackles doesn't necessarily equal defensive success. However, he can continue to raise his sack count, anything additional can be looked at as an improvement. That's what makes Micah so special. He could up his sack count AND his tackles because of his versatility in the front seven. But if he's registering 100 tackles in a season with only a few sacks, then that means his skill set just isn't being utilized the right way.
Nick: I think it's a fair point. It's really not a big criticism of the guy, because he was so amazing as a rookie. But I definitely think he can exceed 64 tackles. Think about this – in the season opener against the Bucs, Parsons really didn't stand out as playing a great game. He still had seven tackles. But in the final four games of the regular season, Parsons was making a case for the Defensive Player of the Year, and he had a combined seven tackles. So, in that regard, you're right in that tackles won't be a stat that defines him. But I still see him being a player that should average about 5 a game. That's really only about one tackle a game more than last year. If he can average five a game, that's about 85 tackles and that seems like a doable stat.
