Sam Williams will be a key piece to the Dallas Cowboys defense

Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Sam Williams’ 2024 season ended before it could even begin.

The 2022 second-round pick tore his ACL on the second day of training camp last year, but on Tuesday, Williams was able to leave the rehab group for organized team activities and participate in position group work with the defensive line.

Williams is now primed to fully return to the field. I think many forgot about how big of a return to the defensive line that Williams could be if he gets back to 100%.

By The Numbers

His first year saw him record four sacks, 22 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and nine QB hits in 15 games. He looked like he could be a really good player for a long time with the Dallas Cowboys.

Then guess what? He was suspended for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, by just having penalty after penalty, and, of course, the tearing of his ACL, but that I think actually helped him in a way.

I think he is motivated now to be great, but the issue is, the Cowboys defensive end room might not be the BEST, but they have a ton of depth.

Dallas ranked 31st in the NFL in points allowed last season. Better health from Williams and maybe Trevon Diggs, if they can get him to return week one like he has hinted at will help the team’s efforts to improve in that respect, and both should be available for at least most of the coming campaign.

Williams is going to battle against the likes of Marshawn Kneeland, Soloman Thomas, and rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku for extra snaps as an edge rusher.

A name to not forget about is Payton Turner, another former first round pick.

I will keep an eye on how this shapes out this summer, but take a look at the video from Twitter below. Yes, I understand it is a minicamp and I am not going to overblown it, but look at how fast Williams gets off the snap.

https://twitter.com/Stephen_Mac03/status/1933133010179678262

Tell me that does not look like a guy who just tore his ACL, it looks like a guy who hasn’t missed an entire season due to injury.

It will be fun to see how all these guys battle and who ends up getting snaps. I really like all of them, but Thomas, Williams and Kneeland are my three that I think should be the first to get snaps in 2025.