Is Micah Parsons the best rookie in Cowboys history?

Clarke82

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Bob Hayes changed the Cowboys from bad to very good. His raw speed made the Cowboys offense the most dangerous in the NFL.

Defenses were so busy trying to defend his speed that they developed the first deep zones which allowed the Cowboys to become a dominate running team.

The Cowboys never had a winning season until Bullet Bob arrived and from his rookie year in when '65 when they finally had a non losing season (7 wins & 7 losses) they would have 20 consecutive winning seasons.

I think Tony Dorsett, Everson Walls, and Micah Parson all are good answers but, in my mind Bob Hayes literally changed how the game was played.

In years to come, we might look back and say that Micah changed the game with his versatility but, today I would say Bob Hayes is still the man.
 

Scotman

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1960 Cowboys first ever season 0-11-1. Lilly first season was 1961 and they improved to 4-11-1. Have to think he had a big hand in that considering they had a complete expansion roster the year before.

You could 100% be right. I just can't speak about it first hand. It really was before my time and I've never gone back and watched those games.
 

RS12

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You could 100% be right. I just can't speak about it first hand. It really was before my time and I've never gone back and watched those games.
Me neither. I was born his rookie year and really only saw him mid career on. I am sure Meredith and Landry and Perkins had a hand in the jump between year one and two. I am making an educated guess based on Lilly being a top 50 all time great and the significant improvement.
 

Scottishcowboy

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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


That screen pass in 2016! The movement and blocking down the field by the O line was special! I've a ton of Cowboys games stored on my TV hard-drive and I've re-watched that game more than any other, Zeke in general in that game was a machine.

On the original point, it's a split between Elliot, Martin and Parsons. They all became the best player at their position their rookie season and that it the deciding factor for me. I can only go back to the mid 80s as a UK viewer and even then, TV coverage was limited back in those days.
 

RonnieT24

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Bob Hayes terrorized the NFL like no rookie in team history in 1965. He averaged 21.8 yards per catch and led the NFL with 12 TD catches... IN NINETEEN SIXTY FIVE!!! Dude was pretty much uncoverable.. He could have had 30 TD catches if the Cowboys had chosen to throw it to him more. but they only threw the ball 360 times that year. As much as I love Parsons I can't rank his rookie season above Bullet.. or maybe even Dak who if I'm not mistaken set the record for passer rating for rookie QB and Zeke who led the NFL in rushing by like 400 yards.. Parson did not lead the league in anything.
 

RonnieT24

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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


Any list that does not include Bob Hayes amazing rookie season is immediately null and void.
 

Howboutdemcowboys31

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I’ve only been watching since 98. I’d say Martin is the only one who would be in the debate vs Parsons.

Zeke was amazing but RB is the easiest college to pro transition so I wouldn’t say he was better than Martin or Parsons
 

Clarke82

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1960 Cowboys first ever season 0-11-1. Lilly first season was 1961 and they improved to 4-11-1. Have to think he had a big hand in that considering they had a complete expansion roster the year before.

Bob Lilly was the best Defensive Tackle in the NFL for a long time but, his career got off to a relatively slow start because, Coach Landry thought he would be a better Defensive End. It was a failed experiment much like Randy White being played at MLB his first two seasons.

So, for the purpose of this discussion, Bob Lilly and Randy White two HOF Defensive Tackles were played out of position as rookies and had little impact.
 

phildadon86

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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
Not having Dak in the TOP TEN is complete disrespect. LOL. Wow. LVE over Dak? HAHAHHA wow
 

LandryFan

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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.
I would have to consider Tony Dorsett and maybe Everson Walls in the conversation. That said, the Cowboys were good before drafting those two and remained good afterward. When Parsons arrived, a whole new defensive attitude arrived. Yes, DQ had a lot to do with that, but as far as player impact goes, I'd have to give the nod to Micah.
 

CowboyRoy

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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.

Parsons, Dak, Dorsett, Martin
 

CowboyRoy

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Put him, Martin, Ware, Zeke and Dak in a jar and pick one, whoever it is I'm good with it. Off the top of my head, Martin was all-pro as a rookie, Zeke broke the Cowboys rookie rushing record and Dak had the best year by any of our rookie QBs. Since were hear in the now, I would take Parsons. I don't know if it was him or Quinn who turned this D around, either way we are a lot better with him.

Tony Dorsett had an amazing rookie season too. But that was a championship team before he got there, he just added to that great team.

Dak won ROY over Zeke so we can take Zeke out of the jar completely.
 

UncleRico

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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.
Yeah. I would have said Dak\Zeke in 2016 until this year but Micah is already the best defensive player in the league and has changed our defense significantly.
 

CowboysFaninHouston

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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.
good question.... could be a good debate..lets not forget about Taco LOL...

but probably Demarcus Ware comes close...he played on a team with less talent around him. had a great rookie season....had less sacks off course, but he was everything on that defense....

Larry Allen...but probably not his rookie year.....he came on in his second year.

Tyron Smith, he was dominant from the get go...not much stats on OL men
 
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