Last season at the trade deadline, the Dallas Cowboys tried to compensate for the loss of Micah Parsons by acquiring another one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL in Quinnen Williams, a decision that quickly proved to be one of the best moves Jerry Jones has made in recent memory.
In the first half of the season, the Cowboys' defense was historically bad, but in the second half of the season, they took significant strides in the right direction largely due to Williams' impact. Having an actual anchor on the defensive line elevated the entire front seven, so he has to be one of the best interior defenders in the game off that alone.
Unfortunately, he hasn't been getting the credit he deserves. When ESPN's Jeremy Fowler surveyed over 70 NFL scouts, executives, and coaches about the 10 best defensive tackles in the NFL, Quinnen's placed sixth, and it's an absolute travesty that he failed to make it into the top five.
Quinnen Williams' placement in DT rankings is new bulletin board material for Cowboys star
This has to be a joke. The four-time Pro Bowler was placed behind Leonard Wiiliams, Jeffery Simmons, Jalen Carter, Chris Jones, and Derrick Brown because of the Jets curse? Did these people even watch the Quinnen Williams we saw take the field with the Cowboys at the end of last season?
Yes, the 28-year-old tied his career-low of 2.5 sacks last year, but sacks aren't the best measurement of how impactful a defensive tackle is. Not only did Williams constantly collapse the pocket, but he was even more impactful as a pure run defender.
Fowler noted that the Alabama product finished fifth in run stop win rate (43%) inout of 204 qualified players in 2025. And his 19 pressures in seven games as a Cowboy more than doubled his eight pressures in eight games with the Jets before he was dealt, so he should continue to improve with a full year in Dallas.
The best part is that he'll now be surrounded by better edge rushers as well. You have another year of Donovan Ezeiruaku, and the Cowboys traded for Rashan Gary and drafted UCF's Malachi Lawrence with the second of their two 2026 first-rounders, so defenses can't key in on him as much anymore in a better system.
The only way to justify ranking Quinnen Williams outside the top five is because of the sheer amount of defensive tackle talent in the NFL, but this placement should certainly provide him some extra motivation to return back to the mountaintop in 2026.
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