Reading the Defense: Week 10

Last week's edition of Reading the Defense covered the impacts of in-season trades to IDP rosters. As of its publication, 2025 looked like a sleepy year of player movement between teams. The day of the deadline, November 4, came alive. The Cowboys, Jets, Colts, and Eagles acted decisively on their 2025 fortunes.

The Jets resembled a fantasy football team in dealing away their two best defenders for three first-round draft picks and a second-rounder, plus two once highly regarded prospects in need of fresh starts. As noted last week, the traits don't just go away.

Very quick observation from AD Mitchell from practice is he physically stands out. Impressive size. Natural runner.

We don't watch enough to say anything else, but he's one of those dudes where if you took someone who knew nothing about the Jets, and asked them who looks the… https://t.co/bBSw41Qbep

— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) November 6, 2025

DT Quinnen Williams, Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys gave up most of the draft capital it gained in trading All-Pro edge defender Micah Parsons to get Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. Micah Parsons fetched two first-rounders and defensive tackle Kenny Clark from the Packers on the eve of the 2025 season. Quinnen Williams fetched a 1, a 2, and nose tackle Mazi Smith, a 2023 first-round bust.

The Cowboys had tried to spin the Parsons trade as an upgrade to their run defense, yet no team has allowed more rushing first downs this year. Kenny Clark has been pedestrian in his tenth season, which seemed to necessitate the trade for Williams.

Conventional wisdom posits that Williams will displace Osa Odighizuwa from the starting line-up. Playing undertackle alongside Clark in the interior would put Williams in a prime position to flourish as a pass rusher.

Odighizuwa, however, just signed a 4-year $80 million contract last spring to serve as the "engine" of defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus' defense. The Williams trade is writing on the wall for Clark, who would cost the Cowboys $21 million to retain in 2026. He'll almost certainly be cut next spring with no dead cap hit.

Williams collected 12.0 sacks in his All-Pro season of 2022. In his other five and a half seasons, he's credited with just 28.0, including 1.0 in the first half of the 2025 season. The 1-7 Jets have seemed to prioritize run defense for Williams. He frequently sits back in his stance to take on blocks rather than pin his ears back to get upfield.

Here, you can see the slight difference between Quinnen Williams' stance this year (first picture; more weight on feet, but down, head up) and his stance when he played with Whitecotton (2nd image; more forward in stance with more weight on hands, but higher, head not up as far),… pic.twitter.com/T4zyLAjTFL

— John Owning (@JohnOwning) November 5, 2025

Williams has made 32 combined tackles in 8 games, 31 of which came in losses. Williams has piled up numbers in negative game flow.  

Williams ranks second in run-stop win rate among defensive tackles, according to ESPN analytics. In first place is Dallas reserve Solomon Thomas.

Odighizuwa ranks slightly ahead of Williams in pass-rush win rate at 10 percent. Both are among the top 20 defensive tackles in this metric.

Quinnen Williams can and will play both tackle positions and likely lead the D-tackle group in snaps down the stretch. He has never played a particularly high volume of snaps in a season and should not be expected to do so for the 2025 Cowboys. If he's moving over for Odighizuwa in obvious passing situations while the 3-5-1 Cowboys keep games competitive, Williams' ceiling as a pass rusher rises, but not to extraordinary heights, while his potential for tackle compilation settles down. To date, he ranks among the top ten fantasy defensive tackles on the strength of three forced fumbles, two more than any other player at his position.

Williams likely fits the profile of several star players traded in recent seasons. As interesting as the trade is for real football, it probably won't pay dividends for fantasy gamers.

LB Logan Wilson, Dallas Cowboys