I don’t think anyone had Horn and Surtain going 8th and 9th, so the Cowboys had to act fast and make a decision that may have even caught them a bit off guard because I really don’t feel like they felt like they’d have to move up to 7th or 8th to ‘reach’ for a corner (trust me... people on the board & media would’ve lost their crap and DOGGED the Cowboys if they moved up and took one of those 2 corners without hindsight being 20/20 because EVERYONE would’ve said Horn or Surtain would’ve surely been there at pick 10 so why did they move up and “waste” a 2nd or 3rd rounder [at best] to move up - when they “didn’t have to”).
With that being said - they ended up picking a guy that has a real chance to become the greatest linebacker in franchise history (that’s how good this kid could be). To me - It shows that Dan Quinn sees what a lot of us see when it comes to Jaylon Smith and he probably would’ve saved the Cowboys quite a bit of money and cap space had he been the D-coordinator 2 years ago. Parsons will be our Bobby Wagner and he’s bigger, faster, and potentially has better coverage skills than Wagner.
Can you really be mad about this pick considering the circumstances? The way the board fell it came down to Slater and Parsons - so your answer should depend on who you’d rather have on this team. To me Parsons’ size and speed in the middle of the field simply makes this team better than adding an offensive guard.
BTW - Nick Saban wanted Parsons BADLY and Parsons chose Penn State over Alabama.