When Sam Williams was drafted back in 2022, the Dallas Cowboys had high hopes for the athletic freak coming out of Ole Miss. During his time in college, Williams registered 134 tackles, 20.5 sacks, and 31.5 tackles for loss. He would walk into Dallas with the backing of then-defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, playing in a hybrid defensive scheme that deployed edge rushers similar to Ole Miss. In his first two seasons, Williams’ arrow was trending up in Dallas, based on his on-field production and a nomination for defensive rookie of the year.
Since then, the arrow has trended down for Williams, who is now a core special-teams player and no longer viewed as the pass-rusher the Cowboys drafted in 2022. Williams believes the 2026 season is a chance to turn his career around, thanks to defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s scheme change and his fit within the scheme. Connecting the dots, it makes sense. Even more than Quinn, Parker primarily runs his defense out of the 3-4 defensive fronts, Williams best scheme fit, and when he was most productive.
After Quinn left in 2024, the defensive scheme in Dallas changed to a traditional 4-3 front. Before he could play in it, though, Williams would suffer a torn ACL and MCL, missing the entire season. He would return in 2025, but Williams statistically fell short of his past production, unable to utilize his speed effectively off the edge.
Per The Athletic’s Jon Machota, Williams now feels that he’ll fare better this season, thanks in part to the scheme change and his familiarity with the position he’ll play
“I’m going to be an outside linebacker,” Williams said last week at the Cowboys’ Home Run Derby in Frisco. “I can use my speed and my strength more. I can just be me.” “This is what I did at Ole Miss, so I’m happy,”
Clearly, Williams prefers Parker’s scheme over the schemes run in the past two seasons, and being able to use his speed off the edge could be a serious x-factor for Dallas this season. Especially for a group that has more questions than answers heading into the season. The possibility of a Williams resurgence could very well happen, changing his career trajectory in a contract year, and boosting the Cowboys’ defense with another threat off the edge to deal with.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Sam Williams, a forgotten Cowboy, could be X-factor heading into 2026
Reporting by Terence Watson , Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
