FRISCO, Texas – At the NFL's trade deadline last week, the Cowboys made two notable moves to bolster the front seven on their defense.
Quinnen Williams and Logan Wilson arrive in Dallas tasked with helping a unit that is fifth-worst in the league against the run and second-worst in total yards per game.
In the next and final eight games for Dallas, they'll face three teams currently ranked in the top ten in rushing yards per game and five in the top half of the league.
How can Williams and Wilson be of assistance for the Cowboys going into the final stretch of the 2025 season? Let's dive into it in this week's "Tape Talk" and find out:
How Quinnen Williams can help the Cowboys stop the run
Ever since trading Micah Parsons before the season, it's clear that the precedent Dallas wants to set defensively going forward is being able to stop the run. Adding Kenny Clark in the Parsons trade and Solomon Thomas in free agency has helped with that, but now the Cowboys have one of the best run stoppers in the league joining their ranks.
Quinnen Williams, who stands at 6'3, 303, is a big and wide player that can line up in various spots along the defensive line as a one-tech, 2i, three-tech, really whatever you want him to be. Regardless of where he lines up, you can usually count on opposing offenses to send two bodies his way, like the Buccaneers do on this play here.
The issue is Tampa Bay's left guard only briefly helps the tackle before climbing to take the linebacker, which leaves Williams one-on-one. That usually doesn't end well for opposing linemen. Williams is firmly planted, has both of his hands firmly engaged with the tackle, and is so strong he can shed his block with essentially one arm, flinging the tackle to the ground. Then, he's one-on-one with the running back Bucky Irving and holds on for the tackle as he tries to spin away.
Quinnen Williams' ability to disrupt the QB in the pocket
Now that we've looked at Williams' ability to help in the run game, let's look at how he helps in the pass rush too. He hasn't been getting to the quarterback as much this season as he did in 2022 when he had 12 sacks, but once again his ability to draw double teams and relentless pursuit of the play help make things difficult for opposing offenses.
At the start of this play you'll see a similar blocking plan from Pittsburgh's offense as you did in the first clip: The guard briefly helps the tackle before going to double the Jets' other defensive tackle. From the way that Williams is displaced, it looks like the left tackle has done his job of taking him out of the equation and giving Aaron Rodgers a clean pocket.
That is until Rodgers feels pressure or the internal time clock goes off, and he has to dance around. Initially, it looks like he'll step up and scramble right up the middle, and Williams takes a step to account for that. Then, Rodgers sees that lane get cut off and goes right, where Williams is waiting for him and lays a big hit as Rodgers throws it away. He may not put up the numbers sacks wise, but he will certainly affect the pocket, which means the rest of the Cowboys rushers need to win their one-on-ones.
Logan Wilson's eye discipline on display vs. the run
As the Cowboys have struggled in recent weeks, Brian Schottenheimer has said repeatedly that they needed to have better eye discipline defensively. What stood out to him when watching his new linebacker Logan Wilson? His eyes, a big reason why Dallas made the move to acquire him.
On this play, Travis Etienne takes the jab step as if he's running to the right side of the formation, before coming back the other way to follow his pulling block. Wilson accounts for the fake-step by taking one of his own in that direction, but stays square to the line of scrimmage and doesn't commit to that side, allowing him to slide back to the direction of the rush easily.
From there, he's able to do what the Cowboys linebackers this season have struggled to do up to this point: Avoid the climbing offensive lineman, which the Cowboys have struggled to do this season. After Wilson side steps the climbing block, everyone else on the left side of the line is blocked one-on-one, which allows Wilson to shoot the gap that Etienne ends up going through and makes the tackle.
Where Logan Wilson's effort shows up in coverage
Before even playing a snap for the Cowboys, Logan Wilson has the most pass breakups on the team this season with four. And that's on the heels of limited playing time in Cincinnati over the course of the season too.
So, how does he do it? Well, similarly to how Wilson approaches the run game, it starts with his eyes. Being lined up in the middle of the field, it's imperative that Wilson keeps his eyes on the quarterback in the passing game (an in the backfield in general on every play). After Wilson sees the play action and Joe Flacco dropping, he slowly begins to drop into the sector of the field he's responsible for.
Sure enough, Cedric Tillman is running a crossing route over the middle of the field behind Wilson. As Flacco gets ready to release the pass, Tillman is just beginning to pass Wilson in coverage and ends up getting a good bit of separation. That said, it's not enough, as Wilson makes a straight-up effort play to dive out and deflect just enough of the pass to throw it off track and force an incompletion.
