Cowboys ‘4 Tiers of Talent’: What Level is Micah Parsons?

The highest level, McCarthy says, is an “elite” player - one who consistently performs like a star while also lifting teammates to their highest plane.

FRISCO - Thursday marked a busy day for Micah Parsons, who fielded a punt to get loose for the OTA workout, got “stoned” by rookie blocker Tyler Smith and met the media to take the “Tank Challenge.”

And at the end of the day? His coach, Mike McCarthy, dangled a carrot by labeling the second-year star as something shy of “elite.”

McCarthy took a moment to detail his four-category breakdown of NFL talent when he was asked Thursday about where Parsons is and where the Pro Bowler and reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year might be going.

“I think it’s important to recognize that every one of these players is a really good football player,” McCarthy said. “There’s no such thing as, ‘He can’t play here,’ or ‘That guy is…’ They’re all really good players.”

There are, in McCarthy’s mind …

1) Good players.

2) Good players who, he said, “have great moments.”

3) “Then the third category,” McCarthy said, “is great players that are just individually able to perform at an extremely high level consistently.”

And then there is one more level …

The highest level, McCarthy said, is an “elite” player - one who consistently performs like a star while also lifting teammates to their highest plane.

“Obviously Micah had a lot of great moments last year, but our desire – and it needs to be his desire – is for him to be an elite player, not just a great player,” McCarthy said. “The elite ones bring everybody with them. How they work, how they compete in practice, how they compete in the weight room, how they compete at garbage-can basketball in the locker room.”

“He has an opportunity to really make a huge impact in our football team.”

The beauty of 2021 first-round pick Parsons - who has obviously heard this pep talk from McCarthy’s own mouth - is that he’s not insulted by the “must-do-more” characterization.

He gets it. He wants more.

“It’s going to be a little different,” Micah said of a Year 2 in which offenses will focus even more on limiting him. It’s going to be more challenging. But I never back down from a challenge. 

“The great ones just find a way.”

And the “elite” ones, McCarthy is telling Parsons, do even more.

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