Nick Bosa or Micah Parsons: Who is the better player?
Pro Football Focus this week revealed its top 25 players under 25, and San Francisco 49ers pass rusher Nick Bosa led the pack at No. 1.
After Bosa, there's a handful of offensive players, followed by Dallas Cowboys' phenom Micah Parsons, who rolled in at No. 6 — much to the chagrin of Skip Bayless.
"I will take Micah Parsons any day, any night, long term over Nick Bosa," Bayless said.
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Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe are split on whether Nick Bosa should be slotted above Micah Parsons on PFF's under-25 rankings.
Bayless and Shannon Sharpe then dove into debate, deciding whether Bosa should indeed be above Parsons in PFF's rankings, and Sharpe pointed to Bosa's primary mission — sacking the QB — as the reason why he gives Bosa the edge .
"Nine times out of ten, I'm going to take the guy that's on the ball over the guy that's off the ball," Sharpe said. "Nick Bosa is as accomplished, if not more accomplished, than Micah Parsons."
In 2019, Bosa was named Defensive Rookie of the Year, and since entering the league, he's played in a Super Bowl and two NFC Championship Games, and is a two-time Pro Bowler.
This past season, Bosa finished fourth in the NFL in sacks (15.5), tied for first in tackles for loss (21), finished third in QB hits (32), and had four multi-sack games. Parsons finished sixth in sacks (13), third in tackles for loss (20) and fourth in QB hits (30), putting together three multi-sack games.
However, Bosa was in his third year, while Parsons was in his first. In his rookie season, Bosa tallied nine sacks, 16 tackles for loss and 25 QB hits — tallies that fall below Parsons' rookie numbers.
As a rookie, Bosa was rated 86.7 overall by PFF. In his second season, he clocked in with an 84.9 overall rating, and this past season, he was rated 88.3 overall.
Parsons was rated 89.8 overall by PFF this past season, in addition to being named Defensive Rookie of the Year, first-team All-Pro, a Pro Bowler, and finishing second in the Defensive Player of the Year race.
"Parsons has only scratched the surface," Bayless said. "This is the tip of his iceberg. He's much closer to Lawrence Taylor than Nick Bosa is."
Still, despite his stellar rookie campaign, Sharpe took a look at Parsons' first playoff performance, and said that Bayless' guy came up small while Bosa shined in the Niners' toughest contests.
"In that playoff game, Parsons didn't have a quarterback pressure or a quarterback hit," Sharpe said. "In the big games, against the Cowboys, Bosa had a sack-and-a-half, two sacks against Green Bay, and one-and-a-half against the Los Angeles Rams."
While the two play different positions, they will be linked as their careers continue, seemingly set to do battle for the title of the game's greatest defender for years to come.
But in Bayless' eyes, his guy is on the rise — and will reach a level in Dallas that Bosa won't in San Francisco.
"The eye test told me that Parsons is rising. It told me that he is a superstar in the making. The only hope I have [for Dallas] next year is 11 From Heaven."