Green Bay Packers star Micah Parsons has fallen in the Top-100 rankings from ESPN amid his ACL injury.
The Green Bay Packers have a lot of questions to answer this season, starting with how they plan to address the loss of star pass rusher Micah Parsons for the first part of the year.
Parsons suffered a torn ACL toward the end of the 2025 season, ending his first year with the team. While he has been trying to recover as quickly as possible, the likelihood that Green Bay will see Parsons before Week 4 remains low.
Before going out with the injury, Parsons played in 14 games, putting up 12.5 sacks and 41 total tackles, with two forced fumbles. His play helped the Packers defense look like one of the best in the NFL, so his injury was a gut-punch to the season.
But he's been making strong progress all offseason in his return from the brutal injury. However, this didn't stop him from falling in the Top-100 player rankings from ESPN heading into the season.
Last season, Parsons came in ranked No. 9, but this year, he comes in at No. 13. The injury likely played into this fall, but narratives like this may end up fueling the star pass rusher once he does return.
Parsons has the talent to challenge the NFL sack record, which is now held by Myles Garrett of the Los Angeles Rams. But since he'll miss multiple games, it could be tough to reach in 2026.
However, come 2027, assuming that Parsons is fully healthy, the record could be in some trouble. It's not an easy feat for anyone, but counting Parsons out has never seemed to be a good idea.
ESPN NFL analyst Rob Demovsky questioned whether Parsons could eventually reach the incredible 23-sack feat that Garrett set last season.
"While the chances of Parsons getting to Myles Garrett's record of 23 sacks seem remote, if not impossible, it wouldn't be a surprise if Parsons reached double digits," Demovsky said.
Parsons has recorded at least 12 sacks in each of his first five NFL seasons, showing pure dominance on the field. If he can return early enough, he could make a massive difference to this Packers team, giving them a massive boost.
Green Bay is looking to get back to being Super Bowl contenders after faltering down the stretch last season. The Packers finished the year 0-5, falling short in the playoffs to the Chicago Bears.
But getting Parsons back will give this unit a spark, with many around the league seeing Green Bay as a true contender this year.
