Cowboys' Sam Williams Embracing New DC Christian Parker, Position Change

The Dallas Cowboys' defense is going to be looking a lot different in 2026. Along with the all of the new players the Cowboys have added through trade, free agency and the 2026 NFL Draft this year, Dallas is also sporting a new defensive coordinator in Christian Parker, who brings a new scheme with him to the Cowboys.

With that new scheme comes a change in position for Cowboys edge rusher Sam Williams, who is now going to play at outside linebacker instead of being a hand-in-the-dirt defensive end.

“This is what I did at Ole Miss, so I’m happy," Williams said, per Jon Machota of The Athletic.

The Cowboys can only hope that Williams will produce as he did at Ole Miss, where he tallied 10.5 sacks in his final season in 2021. When it comes to getting to know his new play-caller, Williams says he appreciates Parker's "straightforward" approach.

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Sam Williams looks on during the game between the Green Bay Packers | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

“He’s not trying to play around. He’s straight forward with what he wants, and that’s the way it’s going to be," Williams said.

There really is no time to mess around for the Cowboys, who badly need to see a huge improvement on the defensive side of the ball in 2026 after having one of the worst defenses in the NFL last season.

And that awful defense was no doubt the difference in Dallas' season.

"I'll tell you, when you have the challenges we had last year, there's no place to go but up on the defensive side of the ball," Jerry Jones said earlier this offseason. "Had we played a lick of defense last year, we would've had ourselves, I think, a real playoff run."

Sam Williams' 2026 outlook

Giants RB Devin Singletary is tackled by Cowboys LB Shemar James and DE Sam Williams. — Giants RB Devin Singletary and Cowboys LB Shemar James and DE Sam Williams. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

In 2025, Williams took a step back in production after he had just one sack following 8.5 in his previous two campaigns, but he was also coming back from a torn ACL that cost him the entire 2024 campaign, so there's hope he can rebound.

Williams will be operating in a much more crowded edge rushers room than he was in last season.

That's because the Cowboys traded for Rashan Gary and drafted Malachi Lawrence in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to add to a group that includes 2025 second-round pick Donovan Ezeiruaku. Third-round pick Jaishawn Barham may also get looks at EDGE.

While not an ideal situation to break through for playing time, there are question marks with all four of those players.

Ezeiruaku, Barham and Lawrence all remain unproven, and Gary had a terrible second half of last season that saw him shut out in the sacks column.

All of that leaves the door open for plenty of playing time if Williams can rebound and stand out from the rest.

— Sign up for the Cowboys Daily Digest newsletter for more free coverage from Dallas Cowboys on SI —

Add us as a preferred source on Google