Cowboys pony up to address defense: How DTs Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa will be utilized

FRISCO, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys' defense appeared to be doomed to struggle throughout the 2025 season after another rough outing in Dallas' 27-17 "Monday Night Football" loss against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 9. 

One of the many reasons why the Cowboys (3-5-1) are the NFL's second-worst scoring defense (30.8 points per game allowed) through the first half of the year is the lack of an impact All-Pro contributor along the defensive line. That's an element that had been missing since Dallas traded away 26-year-old, All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers a week before the 2025 season began in exchange for two first-round picks and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark. 

That changed ahead of Tuesday's NFL trade deadline with Dallas owner and general manager Jerry Jones being good on his word and trading for 27-year-old, All-Pro New York Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. He sent the Jets a 2026 second-round pick, the better one of the Cowboys' and Packers' 2027 first-round picks and 2023 first-round pick defensive tackle Mazi Smith on Tuesday in exchange for Williams. Dallas is ready to welcome Williams with open arms just weeks after facing him at the Jets in Week 5, a 37-22 Cowboys victory. 

"We've played him a couple of times, just played him a couple of weeks ago. He's just a difference maker, the ability to affect the interior part of the pocket from a pass-rush standpoint. I think 12 sacks a couple of years ago [2022], under the tutelage of, not saying [now-Cowboys defensive line coach Aaron] Whitecotton did it, but Quinnen did it, but around ADub, very disruptive. For us, there's certain calls you make, you're very aware he's in the game because he's so disruptive," Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Tuesday. "We had alerting calls when he was out of the game, we had to set protections based on him. You guys see it. You see the talent. I love the play style."

Williams isn't a one-year rental either: he is under contract through the 2027 season with cap hits of $21.75 million in 2026 and $25.5 million in 2027. That makes him one of three well-compensated, high-level defensive tackles on Dallas' roster in addition to 30-year-old Clark, who has cap hits of $21.5 million in 2026 and $20 million in 2027, and 27-year-old Osa Odighizuwa, who has cap hits of $20.75 million in 2026, $24.5 million in 2027 and $24.5 million in 2028. 

"I think it's just going to add more playmaking ability to the D-line," Odighizuwa said Tuesday. "Another bullet in the gun. Another very strong, and talented guy, so I think we'll be able to use him. ... I've seen his tape. I respect his game a lot. He's a baller, so I'm excited to have him on the team."

So how will it work with the trio of Williams, Clark and Odighizuwa in terms of play time? Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus runs a 4-3 scheme, which means four defensive linemen down on the line of scrimmage with three linebackers behind them in the second level of the defense. Odighizuwa has been a Cowboy his entire career since being selected in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft, and he has started every game for Dallas since his second season in 2022, not missing a game in the last four seasons in this span. He still wants to remain an every game starter. 

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"Very competitive D-tackle room. Extremely competitive, but we also got guys that are all starting-caliber D-tackles. I don't look at anybody in our room whether it be Solly [Solomon Thomas], Kenny, [seventh-round rookie] Jay [Toia] and now Quinnen or myself as someone that couldn't go and start somewhere else," Odighizuwa said. ... Obviously I want to keep starting. I wouldn't expect anybody in our room to want anything less, so that is what it is. ... A lot more competitive now."

What Eberflus began to do more of in Week 9 against the Cardinals was five-down fronts, meaning five defensive linemen in the game along the line of scrimmage instead of the typical four. That switch yielded solid results for Dallas' pass rush as the unit collectively tied the team's single-game high in sacks with five against Arizona quarterback Jacoby Brissett, something the Cowboys also accomplished in Week 5 against Jets quarterback Justin Fields. Those five-down packages will be the primary way for Dallas to make sure all three of Williams, Clark and Odighizuwa get the level of playtime all three have become accustomed to. 

"Again, think you guys saw last night, some of the things we were able to do from the five-down stuff that we played. I thought that was very good for us. The first down efficiency was one of our best of the year, and you can never have enough depth at the interior part of the defensive line. But we'll roll those guys through. We'll stay fresh," Schottenheimer said. "But again, I do think you'll see us continue to use a five-down front. We liked some of the things. Thought Osa played his best game of the year. Most disruptive game last night. That was great to see."

One of the primary drivers for five-down fronts is to dissuade opposing offensive lines from double-teaming the defense's interior players. Williams (57 quarterback pressures vs. double teams since 2022) and Odighizuwa (53 quarterback pressures vs. double teams since 2022) are No. 1 and No. 2 in the NFL in quarterback pressures vs. double teams across the last three seasons, per Next Gen Stats. Those two each seeing fewer and fewer double teams should yield dividends for Dallas' defense now that they are teammates. 

"I hope so. I like it," Odighizuwa said when asked about playing more five-down fronts. "A lot of double teams are created when you have four [defensive linemen] down [on the line of scrimmage. So when you have the three of us in there, it kind of creates a lot more one-on-ones and a lot more opportunity for guys up front to make plays. Having a guy like that come in and potentially be able to use more five-down stuff, that would be awesome."

While Williams occasionally lined up on the edge of the line of scrimmage in New York, Dallas sees him as exclusively an interior player even among Clark and Odighizuwa, shining in one-gap and two-gap blocking schemes. 

"He's [Williams] mostly been inside. He's really been the three technique, the two technique. They've played him on the left. They've played him on the right. We weren't really sure where he was going to go last time we played them, how they were setting it. Some of it was [the] matchup. I'll be sure to ask him when I talk to him. He'll be more inside," Schottenheimer said. "But can he play outside as the edge? Yeah, he can. He's most disruptive inside just because of the speed and the power and the pad level that he has. When you can push the pocket back at the quarterback or push the center/guard back into the runners, it creates a lot of chaos."

Odighizuwa rotated a little bit to the edge of the line as a rookie in 2021 as well as a season ago in 2024 under defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. That's something he would be open to doing more in 2025 following the addition of Williams. 

"I've rushed the edge in four down packages," Odighizuwa said. "I haven't done it as much, but I'd be comfortable rushing out there. I've done it. I did some last year as well, a little more than I had in the past couple years. ... I think it's going to be good to be free. Definitely been getting double-teamed a lot. You now have a chance to be able to beat them."  

Even though the Cowboys secondary remains battered by numerous injuries at both their safety and cornerback positions, the plan in Dallas is to do what they did with Parsons once again with Williams: create so much quarterback pressure that opponents don't have enough time or options to carve them up through the air. The Cowboys led the NFL with a team quarterback pressure rate of 40.2% with Parsons on board from 2021 to 2024. 

"Well, it [adding Williams] should hopefully allow for less time for the quarterback to stand back there and see what's going on. What it does is creates one-on-ones. There's no way to slide. If you're in a four-down front, we can send the center one way or the other. When you have five guys out there, you can't send the center anywhere," Schottenheimer said. "So your help will have to come from somewhere. Usually, you use a back. When you use a back, it limits how freely you can use that back. It creates a lot of problems honestly."