Is Micah Parsons the best rookie in Cowboys history?

[Blackrain]

Duane Thomas was a pretty explosive rookie and took us to our 1st SB win against Miami but had to split carries with Calvin Hill and Walt Garrison so his #s were not as high as Zekes or Tonys but he averaged over 5 yrds a carry

151 attempts and 803 yrds with 5 TD in a 14 game season about half of Zekes Rookie workload

 

[Blackrain]

Bob Hayes getting 1000 yards and 12 TDs in a 14 game season and completely taking NFL by storm has to be in the conversation. Teams had no defense for him at that time. Hayes completely changed the way people defended in the NFL and also led the way for having speedsters at WR. Nobody changed the game as much as he did.

Totally agree and getting those numbers in the mid 60s with what was allowed to be done to the receivers made this twice as impressive . If he played in todays league with the current rules he would dominate like no other receiver

 

[Macnalty]

Zack Martin was an All Pro as a rookie.

I would put Zack Martin(consolation pick), Tony Dorsett, Everson Walls (not drafted (FA)led the league in interceptions as a backup after five games then became starter), and Micah(consolation pick) as the most memorable.

 

[Macnalty]

Didn't see his rookie season but I imagine Bob Lilly improved the defense significantly his rookie year.

He started as a DE and then a couple of seasons later on the DL where he earned all his accolades.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

Nah, Emmitts rookie year and his last year was the only 2 seasons he didn't rush for 1,000 yards with the Cowboys.

Zeke's rookie season was MUCH better than Emmitt's.

Tony Dorsetts rookie year was also better than Emmitt's.

Dorsett came into a team that was 11-3 the year before, and lost by 2 pts to the eventual NFC champ Rams.
Zeke came to a team that 2 years before lost to the Packers in the infamous "no catch" game and had a powerhouse offensive line, said by many to be the best in the NFL, to run behind.

Emmitt came to a team that was 1-15 the year before he arrived, and he still got 937 yards and 11 rushing tds.

So I guess Zeke's and Tony's rookie seasons were better than Emmitt's, Emmitt was on a mostly bereft of talent team. Based on what he had to deal with Emmitt's rookie season was better...

 

[LACowboysFan1]

Emmitt didn't do much his rookie year.

937 yards and 11 rushing tds, that's "not much"? The 937 yards was 10th in the league. The 11 rushing tds was tied for 5th in the league, the top back had only 14.

Can't agree with you at all...

 

[RonnieT24]

Dorsett came into a team that was 11-3 the year before, and lost by 2 pts to the eventual NFC champ Rams.
Zeke came to a team that 2 years before lost to the Packers in the infamous "no catch" game and had a powerhouse offensive line, said by many to be the best in the NFL, to run behind.

Emmitt came to a team that was 1-15 the year before he arrived, and he still got 937 yards and 11 rushing tds.

So I guess Zeke's and Tony's rookie seasons were better than Emmitt's, Emmitt was on a mostly bereft of talent team. Based on what he had to deal with Emmitt's rookie season was better...

You got the order messed up here. The Cowboys lost the Rams in '76 but then the Rams lost to the Vikings in the NFC championship.. And of course the Vikings got run over by Madden's Raiders in the Super Bowl..

 

[tyke1doe]

Biggest impact since Tony D's rookie year whose performance as a rookie that year was a big part of that 77 team's championship.

Close between those 2 imo. That's since my '74/75 fandom began.

Not old enough to speak for the '60-73 years.

jmo

Thank you!
School these pups.

 

[Motorola]

This is really for the long time fans. I can only speak about mid 80's on.

Did we just witness the greatest rookie season in the history of the Dallas Cowboys? I can't think of one better over the last 40 years.

This needs to be adjusted for era obviously. Don't give me raw stats as the reason. It's a much different game today than it was then. I'm asking who was the best in their time not who put up the best overall numbers.

I need people who were around for the 60s and 70s to speak on this.

Is Micah the rookie King?

If so, double bicep flex in your face.

Calvin Hill was NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for the 1969 season - along with being NFL All-Pro and selected to the Pro Bowl.
Mel Renfro led the team in interceptions, and the NFL in punt return and kick-off return yardage in 1964.
My family was overseas for Renfro' s rookie season (Father was stationed in Germany).
But I witnessed Hill's first year as 6th-grader in San Antonio.

 

[JonesBoys]

This is really for the long time fans. I can only speak about mid 80's on.

Did we just witness the greatest rookie season in the history of the Dallas Cowboys? I can't think of one better over the last 40 years.

This needs to be adjusted for era obviously. Don't give me raw stats as the reason. It's a much different game today than it was then. I'm asking who was the best in their time not who put up the best overall numbers.

I need people who were around for the 60s and 70s to speak on this.

Is Micah the rookie King?

If so, double bicep flex in your face.

Between him and Zeke. Zeke was the MVP of the 2016 season. Straight up beast that year.

 

[tyke1doe]

My vote goes to Tony Dorsett, whom we stole from the Seattle Seahawks. Glad the Cowboys drafted him, or I might be a Seasquawk fan now.
Dorsett gave Dallas a break-away speed runner to go with an already potent offense and became the first player to win a Heisman, win a National Championship and a Super Bowl in his first year out of college.

Micah has been the "War Daddy" Jerry has been searching for, and although he has had a sensational rookie year, the season's not done. If he continues his dominant impact on defense by leading this team to the Super Bowl, I will revisit whether he's the best rookie in Cowboys history.

I also have to give a nod to Dak Prescott. Forgot about what you feel about him now. However, few can dispute what he did his rookie year. Stepped in to replace a quasi-legend in Tony Romo. Led the team to 13-3 and the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Almost led the Cowboys to the NFC Championship. Gotta give him his prop.

So, right now, my "best rookies in Cowboy history" are ...

1. Tony Dorsett
2. Dak Prescott
3. Ezekiel Elliott
4. Emerson Walls
5. Micah Parsons (to move up to #2 if he helps lead the Cowboys to victory against SFran)

 

[NickZepp]

No offense to LT but the 49ers were already going to the quick passing game before LT ever showed up. And the reason was the Cowboys pass rush with Manster, Too Tall and Harvey Martin.. They couldn't block them and they couldn't run on them.. So they went to the passing game as the running game approach.

Yeah Bill Walsh was doing his thing for years before that but the thing is nobody was copying it before that point. You have to remember Walsh was doing the same philosophy since he was coaching under Paul Brown with the Bengals for nearly a decade and nobody else was really doing it. When you get someone like LT that is wrecking everyone that changes things. Washington started going with quick passing along with putting an additional blocker in the back field for the run game with Gibbs. By the end of the 80s everyone was running a variation of the west coast/Walsh attack of offense.

 

[plymkr]

Zack Martin was an All Pro as a rookie.

Yeah I'd say a toss up between Zack and Micah, with a lean towards Zack. Hard to beat all pro honors

 

[CATCH17]

Yeah I'd say a toss up between Zack and Micah, with a lean towards Zack. Hard to beat all pro honors

Im pretty sure Zeke was All Pro but I may be wrong because I remember him being top 3 in MVP votes I believe.

Edit: Zeke finished 4th in MVP voting as a rookie. Which makes no sense they gave OROY to Dak lol.

Zeke was also 1st team All Pro.


Tyron, Frederick, and Martin were all first team All Pro.


I now feel silly for even defending my stance against some of the Tad’s in here. Obviously I’m right.

 

[DFWJC]

lolll

It really is mind-boggling.....some of these folks

 

[nobody]

TOP IMPACTFUL ROOKIES

#1, Prophet Micah; heaven sent, no argument about the first position here
#2, Everson Walls, 1981, 11 INT's,
3. Tony Dorsett, impact player, took Boys to the next level and a Super Bowl victory
4. Zeke, best rookie RB output in team history; his 83 yard screen play TD against the Steelers, one of top 5 plays of all time
5. Emmit, he boosted the Boys to the next level
6. Zach Martin, instant Pro Bowl
7. T FRED, instant Pro Bowl
8. Terrence Newman, 4 INT's, gave respect to porous secondary
9. LVE, his 1st year was magical, 140 tackles
10. T SMITH, one year at RT showed us he would be stud at LT

I agree with some of these names...maybe not the order. LVE?! Seriously? Newman? Those two are jokes compared to some others left off. I'd replace LVE and Newman with Bob Hayes and Dak. There are others that are arguable, but even those are much better choices than Newman and LVE.

 

[plymkr]

Im pretty sure Zeke was All Pro but I may be wrong because I remember him being top 3 in MVP votes I believe.

Edit: Zeke finished 4th in MVP voting as a rookie. Which makes no sense they gave OROY to Dak lol.

Zeke was also 1st team All Pro.


Tyron, Frederick, and Martin were all first team All Pro.


I now feel silly for even defending my stance against some of the Tad’s in here. Obviously I’m right.

Frederick was all pro too? Wow, I didn't know that. Man I miss Fredbeard. We really took a hit when we lost him.

 

[TwoDeep3]

Bob Lilly

End of discussion

 

[IceBowler]

Tony D no. 33 was awfully "impactful" when he showed up ..

 

[CT Dal Fan]

All-time candidates (and I only remember from the early 1990's so this is going off things I have read and watched). Also this is going by rookie years only.

WR Bob Hayes 1965 (1003 yards, 12 TD's)
RB Tony Dorsett 1977 (1007 yards)
CB Everson Walls 1981 (11 picks as a rookie free agent)
RB Emmitt Smith 1990 (937 yards)
G Zack Martin 2014 (all pro)
QB Dak Prescott 2016 (23-4 TD-pick ratio)
RB Ezekiel Elliott 2016 (1631 yards)
LB Micah Parsons 2021 (13 sacks)

To me it's too hard to pick a winner there. I'm thinking Parsons right now, especially if he makes a big impact in the postseason.