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Finishing more plays a goal for Penn State’s Micah Parsons
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Look at the stat sheets and you’ll see that Micah Parsons did more than anybody could’ve asked on the field last season. The former five-star prospect didn’t seem to have much trouble adjusting from the high school game to B1G football.
As a true freshman, Parsons led the Nittany Lions in total tackles, registering 83 stops last fall. He added five tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and forced two fumbles in his first season in Happy Valley. There really isn’t much there to critique.
Despite a spectacular freshman campaign, Parsons still believes there are ways he can improve and sees some errors in his performance from a year ago. He’s not satisfied with just making tackles, he wants to be more of a big-play guy next season.
On a conference call with the media on Tuesday morning, Parsons said he wanted to finish more plays in his sophomore season, and pointed to an example in the Citrus Bowl when he could’ve intercepted a pass, but wasn’t able to make the play. The linebacker says he’s using the spring to try and get better in those situations.
“I’m obviously having a way better spring than I did last year,” Parson said, “and I want to keep growing off that.”
Parsons will also see his responsibilities change entering the 2019 season. On a defense that is losing several key components, the rising sophomore will be more of an experienced leader this season and an anchor at linebacker.
As a player with a key role early in his career, Parsons felt like he was in over his head a bit. As the season progressed, though, he says the game slowed down for him.
With a full year under his belt and another spring season nearing the end, Parsons is going to feel a lot more comfortable on the field in 2019. That could result in him becoming that big-time playmakers he’s striving to be.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB