Quinnen Williams isn't the next Micah Parsons, but new Cowboys DT still expects to be 'difference maker'

FRISCO, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys' defense needed a hero following a 3-5-1 start to the 2025 season that was accentuated by a deflating 27-17 "Monday Night Football" loss against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 9. 

The absence of All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons following owner and general manager Jerry Jones' decision to trade him away to the Green Bay Packers a week before the 2025 has certainly been felt through the first half of the year. His departure is one of a few reasons the Cowboys are the NFL's second-worst scoring defense (30.8 points per game allowed) after nine games. That's why Jones made the move at Tuesday's NFL trade deadline to acquire 27-year-old All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets.

"Definitely was surprised by it. It's unbelievable though, man, to be able to come to an organization where there's so much history, so much talent on the team, great ownership, and great group of guys in the locker room and a great head coach and the things these guys are doing here," Williams said on Wednesday. "So I'm super happy to be a part of this. Super happy to be a part of this defensive line group that's super loaded and super talented with [defensive tackles] Kenny Clark and O [Osa Odighizuwa] and [edge rusher] Dante Fowler and [defensive line] coach Aaron [Whitecotton], man. It's unbelievable to go to work with those guys. I'm looking forward to it."

Dallas is also certainly looking forward to his Cowboys debut on "Monday Night Football" in Week 11 after a bye in Week 10. Based on what Jones and the Dallas front office gave up to acquire him, the hope is his All-Pro presence can be the driving force that reignites a struggling defensive unit under new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. That expectation is something Williams embraces, but he knows his production will come in a different form than Parsons' 12-sacks-a-year production from 2021 to 2024. His 40.0 career sacks are the third-most among 300-pound players since he entered the league as the third overall draft pick in 2019, and he's been a Pro Bowler in each of the last three seasons.

"It's pretty cool man," Williams said of those expectations. "Micah Parsons is a phenomenal player. He can do things where I can't dream about doing, especially [when] it comes down to rushing the passer. We're totally different players, man, in that aspect. I'm more interior presence, interior push, physical, strong and a good interior pass rusher. I'm just here to do my job to the best of my ability and be a difference maker from the interior standpoint and the defensive line standpoint the best way I can."

The Cowboys' struggles defending against the pass (254.4 passing yards per game allowed, 30th in the NFL) are new this season, but their issues against the run have been an issue for years. The 2025 season is no different with Dallas allowing the fourth-most rushing yards per game (143.0) this season. That's an area in which Williams can make an immediate impact since his 13 runs stuffs for a loss or no gain are the second-most in the NFL this season, according to Next Gen Stats via NFL Research.   

"I hang my hat on being disruptive, being dominant and rushing the passer and also taking a step forward in stopping the run. I know, I've been reading a lot of stuff and seeing a lot of stuff on Dallas not stopping the run, so having the opportunity to come here and help those guys out of that and just help turn this thing around when it comes down to that point, it's going to be unbelievable for me," Williams said. "To learn from Osa and Kenny Clark and the defensive line, it's going to be unbelievable and also show them and lean on them and teach them different things also. To be around a great group of guys, man, a great defense for the last few years, man is going to be fun."

Williams is also thrilled to reunite with Cowboys defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton, who worked as his position coach with the Jets from 2021 to 2024 before the latter joined new coach Brian Schottenheimer's staff in Dallas in 2025. After just a year of Whitecotton's tutelage in 2021, Williams broke out for a career-high 12.0 sacks in 2022 en route to earning first team All-Pro honors, the start of three consecutive Pro Bowl seasons. 

"I think anybody can look at the resume. Before I had Whitecotton, I kind of was ... I set out to be a good DT. When Whitecotton came into my life as a coach, I became an All-Pro and a Pro Bowler. The techniques that he has taught me, the things that he has done for me in my career when it comes down to coaching and stuff like that, have been unbelievable and kind of transcended my career to this day," Williams said. "So being paired back with him, I know the sky's the limit, not only for me but for this group also. Because a lot of these guys in this defensive line room are in their first year with Whitecotton also, I know the things he's done for me and the things he helped me with to be the player that I am today, he can help that whole group out."  

Whitecotton himself naturally deflected the credit back to Williams, but it's clear their connection will shine brightly right away. Dallas' defensive line coach said he typically first looks to connect personally with a new player that's added to his position room in the event of a trade of free agency signing, but he and Williams can skip right ahead to the X's and O's now because of their preexisting relationship.  

"I think that was a young man who works his butt and who is talented come to fruition," Whitecotton said on Wednesday. "When he first got to New York, it had nothing to do with me, but before I was there he took a lot of criticism as a rookie for 'hey, this guy is the third overall pick. He's not doing this, he's not doing that.' All of us here, it took us some time to master our craft and really get good at what we're doing. He was trying to understand the league. ... I think once he found his stride as a professional and then got comfortable in what he was doing, you saw the work ethic and talent pay off."

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Williams' fit in Dallas 

Williams is now joining a defensive line with two other well-paid defensive tackles in 30-year-old, three-time Pro Bowler Kenny Clark, a player Williams said he has long admired by watching film and 27-year-old Osa Odighizuwa. So how will all three of them play together? Whitecotton said there will obviously be rotations where all three still receive a starter's level of game reps, but there will also be a higher utilization of five-down fronts. That's where a defense has five defensive linemen in the game along the line of scrimmage instead of the typical four. That adjustment translated into results for Dallas' pass rush collectively as they tied the team's single-game high in sacks with five against Arizona quarterback Jacoby Brissett in Week 9, something the Cowboys also accomplished in Week 5 against Jets quarterback Justin Fields. 

"Whatever my job is to do, man. Most of the coach's job is to figure out how that's going to happen. Like I said, they're two elite defensive tackles, man. Not great. I mean all great and elite when it comes down to the things they both do," Williams said of figuring out how to fit alongside Clark and Odighizuwa. "I know Kenny Clark. I studied his film like no other when he was at Green Bay, and the two-tech rushing he did have. I love to see O, the things he's done recently the last two to three years: the pass rush and the run stopping that he has and the disruptiveness he has also. You got Solomon Thomas in that room also, who I'm very familiar with. So I'm just super ecstatic to be a part of a group of guys that not only I can learn from, grow with but work alongside."

Schottenheimer said the Cowboys see Williams as "most disruptive inside" at the defensive tackle position, but he's willing to kick out to edge rusher from time to time to accommodate Clark and Odighizuwa. That's something Odighizuwa himself also said he's happy to do to accommodate Williams.  

"I think I pride myself in that [versatility], because at the end of the day, if I can be on the field and do the things I know I can do, I can be a help to this defense and a help to this team to win football games," Williams said. "So no matter what they ask me to do, no matter what they want me to do, if it's to get all three of us on the field, moving to D-end for a couple of plays, I'm willing to do that. Whatever they ask me to do, man, I pride myself on being the best player and best person I can be in the locker room and on the field."