Micah Parsons gives shoutout to Abdul Carter and Giants defensive line: ‘It’s pretty nice’
Darius Slay joined the Cowboys edge rusher on an NFL draft livestream and weighed in on his former Eagles picking linebacker Jihaad Campbell.
After the Giants took fellow Penn Stater Abdul Carter, Micah Parsons has some bold claims about New York’s defensive line — it’s the best in the NFC East, even better than the Eagles.
“It’s pretty nice,” Parsons said on the Bleacher Report livestream. “Brandon Graham retired, Josh Sweat gone, but Dexter Lawrence, to me, is the best defensive tackle in the game of football. He had nine sacks in the first nine weeks of football. We’ve got to be a little bit real around here.”
That said, Parsons backtracked a bit, giving credit to his own defensive line down in Dallas. But when pressed on if Lawrence was better than Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter, Parsons said “100%.” Former Eagles defensive back Darius Slay had to push back.
» READ MORE: North Philly’s Abdul Carter is drafted No. 3 overall by the New York Giants
“Hold on now,” Slay said. “The Eagles are still my home. We’re not going to disrespect the boy like that now. That’s my dog.”
But Parsons clearly respected Carter more than he let on, because after the Cowboys drafted Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Booker with their first pick in the draft, he shouted out how Booker would help Dallas stop Carter.
“Jalen Carter, he can’t just keep going to the other side of Tyler Smith,” Parsons said.
» READ MORE: Five things to know about the Eagles’ first-round draft pick
Parsons and Slay also offered their thoughts on the Eagles selecting linebacker Jihaad Campbell at pick No. 31 in the first round — including a bit of injury concern for Nakobe Dean, who tore his patellar tendon in the wild-card round against Green Bay and missed the rest of the playoffs.
“[Nakobe] Dean is a great linebacker, but I know for sure the Eagles are concerned about his injury,” Slay said. “... I think it’s a very good pick. It’s well-needed to be stable at the linebacker position just because of the fact that Dean’s been hurt even though he’s a great, great talent. He’s very much of a great leader. But I just know how they are in that organization that is being healthy. They want that position as a healthy position.”