On Thursday, Jeff Kerr, CBS Sports NFL Writer, released an article predicting 2022 MVPs for each NFC team, and for the Dallas Cowboys, Kerr selected LB Micah Parsons–which was surprising for me.

I’m not claiming that Parsons isn’t MVP-worthy for Kerr’s selection. But as I read Kerr’s paragraph over Parsons, it got me thinking and asking myself two questions.

• How and why wasn’t QB Dak Prescott chosen?
• Has Micah Parsons already elevated himself as the franchise’s most important player entering just Year Two?

While I will save that Prescott conversation for another day, Kerr’s points about Parsons convinced me that Parsons IS ARGUABLY the Cowboy’s most important player.

But before I continue about Parsons, here are some of those points Kerr had:

There are plenty of Cowboys players who are vital to their team’s success, but Parsons is the one who transformed the defense from one of the league’s worst into a top-10 unit.

The Cowboys defense went from 28th in the league in points allowed in 2020 to seventh in 2021. They improved their takeaways from 23 to 34 in the process and were 7-3 when Parsons recorded a sack last year.

Parsons is the first player with 13 sacks and 80 tackles in a single season since J.J. Watt in 2012 (Watt won Defensive Player of the Year that season)

While I’m not trying to make this a hate post on Prescott or any other player that some fans believe is the most important, realizing how impactful Parsons truly was last season is crazy to wrap my head around–and the best part is he’s not even close to being in his prime.

And before fans freak out about the idea of classifying him as your best player, just be thankful he’s on the squad. Because if you minus Parsons from that defense last year, do they hover around a Top-10 ranking in the league?

Probably not.

So if you haven’t realized whether I’m choosing Fact or Fiction in today’s post, I’m hammering FACT 1,000 TIMES. 

With Parsons, you have a generational player that can win you games single-handily, and that’s something the Cowboys haven’t had on their team for quite some time.

As I said, I’m not trying to make this a diss post on any of the other Cowboy players, but Parsons is a special cat that can take this team on deep playoff runs and is arguably the top LB in the league.

I get the argument that Prescott should be your most important guy, but if the franchise doesn’t choose Parsons, I feel like we could be talking about how they missed on another HOF-type player years down the road.

Don’t get me wrong, Prescott is great.

But Parson’s impact has already surpassed him in one year, and you’re kicking yourself nine times out of 10 for not having Parsons on your team than Prescott.