ESPN’s Adam Schefter announced the New York Jets have traded DT Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick, and defensive tackle Mazi Smith, a former first-round pick.
This looks like a good deal for the Jets.
The Jets’ defense has been pretty bad all year, and one of the issues has been interior run defense.
While it’s unfair to just blame Williams for the Jets’ suspect interior run defense, he was certainly a part of it.
Williams is a terrific interior pass rusher, but isn’t the biggest DT, and too often, gets engulfed by massive interior offensive linemen, contributing to some big runs up the middle.
In a world where fantasy football has impacted football coverage, not a lot of people focus much on interior run defense.
It’s boring.
But for people who watch film and don’t assess players based on hype, the Jets trading Williams should not be a big surprise.
Don’t get the wrong idea. Williams is a very good player, with amazing first-step quickness to create interior pass rush pressure, however, he’s an undersized defensive tackle who too often has issues shedding blocks against the run.
To get two premium draft picks and a massive developmental defensive tackle in Smith, who is built to be more stout against the run than Williams, looks like a solid move for the Jets.
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