Social Media Reacts To Cowboys' Selection Of Micah Parsons

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys had an eventful Day 1 of the 2021 NFL Draft. The events prior to the team making their initial selection did not play out as originally anticipated, to say the least.

The expectation was for the team to target cornerback prospects Jaycee Horn of South Carolina or Patrick Surtain II of Alabama, but both came off the board right before the Cowboys were on the clock with the No. 10 pick.

After both top cornerback prospects were off the board, the Cowboys decided to turn their focus to trading down. Dallas then finalized a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles to move down to the No. 12 pick. By doing so, they were compensated with a third-round selection in this year's NFL Draft.

The Cowboys used the No. 12 pick to select linebacker Micah Parsons of Penn State. He opted out of the 2020 season but was an All-American in 2019 with 109 total tackles (14.0 for loss), 5.0 sacks, 5 pass deflections, and 4 forced fumbles.

Entering the 2021 NFL Draft, there was a clear need for the Cowboys to emphasize adding dynamic talent on defense. Dallas allowed a single-season worst in points allowed and nearly did the same in opponent yards allowed, too.

Last season, Vander-Esch and Smith experienced regression for the Cowboys. Meanwhile, the retirement of Sean Lee only exacerbated the need to address the linebacker position for Dallas. The decision to go linebacker at pick No. 12 made sense for those reasons.

It should bring a boost to the Cowboys by adding a versatile linebacker like Micah Parsons that can be an asset in pass coverage, in the run game, and as a pass rusher.

Here are the top social media reactions from the Cowboys' selection of Micah Parsons with the No. 12 overall pick:

Micah Parsons

The Cowboys use the 12th overall pick on Micah Parsons. The Penn State LB gets his wish pic.twitter.com/pi8dxtUHwZ
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) April 30, 2021

Ezekiel Elliott

@MicahhParsons11 don’t touch me in practice rook . . . 😂
— Ezekiel Elliott (@EzekielElliott) April 30, 2021

Brad Sham

Scoff all you want, Cowboys nation. This is an excellent pick. The guy is a baller with an attitude. #micahparsons
— Brad Sham (@Boys_Vox) April 30, 2021

Cowboys Fans at "The Star"

Micah Parsons is huge and really fast... But didn’t expect this. Neither did most of the #DallasCowboys fans at The Star... @nbcdfw pic.twitter.com/nZy2inc8mj
— Pat Doney (@PatDoneyNBC5) April 30, 2021

Skip Bayless

Good. Thank you. Micah Parsons ran 4.39 at 246 pounds. Leaped off my TV screen when I watched him two years ago. Opted out last year. But he cannot help but help this pathetic Cowboys defense.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) April 30, 2021