Remember Sam Williams?

[jazzcat22]

Honestly I wonder if getting cut would bother him at all. Hes good enough where another team will pick him up, and if he ends up in the right spot might not be buried down the depth chart like he would be in Dallas even if he makes the roster.

Maybe if he shows he recovered from his injury. He will be one of Jerry's substantial trade candidates.

 

[Jarntt]

sorry, he has been very underwhelming. if the coaches and team had a lot of trust in him, they wouldn't be signing and drafting so many DEs....

First off the team didn't draft need they drafted BPA so that's not really pertinent. Second who did we sign? We lost a starter and a top of the rotation guy. Fowler replaces one in a rotation. Peyton Turner? Have you watched him play? He is not good against the run and in 4 seasons he has 5 sacks. We really don't have more DEs than we had last year. Third his issue is staying on the field and not doing dumb things when he is on the field. If you don't think he has performed as a pass rusher you weren't watching. You do know in a similar number of snaps he had more sacks than Fowler in 2023 while both were here and it was only his second year and that he was going to have a much bigger role last year? Go back and check this board about how people felt after his injury last year. Did his play from the prior years get more underwhelming by him being hurt the last year? His head is his problem and possibly his injury recovery (I don't know about that one). The guy can rush the QB

 

[jazzcat22]

I suspect that he probably needs a massive showing in camp or an injury to another edge guy to make it. The roster math at full health simply isnt in his favor. Fowler/Parsons/Kneeland/Ezeiruaku should all be locks to make it. That only leaves 1, maybe 2 DE spots if they want to go short handed at another position. Not sure how Eberflus has constructed his defensive rosters in the past, but looking at things I would guess the Cowboys try to keep 5 DEs and 4DTs? If thats accurate that only leaves one roster spot between Williams, Turner, Wheat...and given the lack of true run defenders at the position they may opt to keep a bigger body like Turner than go with another pure pass rusher in Williams.

Wheat is a perennial last man on the roster / PS type guy. They like him. But they do not like him better than Williams.
Unless Williams starts on PUP, they may keep 6 DE's, and have kept as many as 11 DL before. But that was due to a few with those 3 to 4 week injury things, that turned into 8 to 10 weeks.

But keeping that many DL, they need to keep 1 less OL and Db, or 2 less DB's. 3 TE's, instead of 4. Those type of roster numbers.

Parsons can also be considered a LB, they keep 5 other LB's, therefore opening a spot on the DL for a numbers game.
In the past they seemed to go with less LB's anyway. Which I never liked. It always seems to hurt them, as the LB's got injured, then they have only a few left.

 

[exciter]

sorry, he has been very underwhelming. if the coaches and team had a lot of trust in him, they wouldn't be signing and drafting so many DEs....

Underwhelming?
He had 4.5 sacks in a little over 300 attempts in 2023. For reference Lawrence had 4 in over 900.
One of those sacks he completely throttled Jordan Mailata. It was the only sack Mailata gave up for the season.
They let Armstrong and Fowler walk last season and Lawrence and Goulston this season!
They drafted DoEz and Kneeland ( strong side) and picked up Payton and Fowler back up. Fowler was crashing at the snap last season, not playing the run in hopes of getting one last big pay day, why his sacks were up and Washington didn’t resign him. If his history holds he’s due for a big drop in sacks.
Payton is an overdrafted bust, and injury prone going back to college!

 

[Johannes44]

The fact that he is still on the team shows me that this so called claims of wanting "high character guys" is a complete fabrication. Not to mention that Jerry isn't going to let any coach have that kind of hand guiding the team.

 

[morat1959]

He’s a super athlete that has to overcome physical injuries as well as being a mental midget when he came into the league.

 

[thunderpimp91]

Wheat is a perennial last man on the roster / PS type guy. They like him. But they do not like him better than Williams.
Unless Williams starts on PUP, they may keep 6 DE's, and have kept as many as 11 DL before. But that was due to a few with those 3 to 4 week injury things, that turned into 8 to 10 weeks.

But keeping that many DL, they need to keep 1 less OL and Db, or 2 less DB's. 3 TE's, instead of 4. Those type of roster numbers.

Parsons can also be considered a LB, they keep 5 other LB's, therefore opening a spot on the DL for a numbers game.
In the past they seemed to go with less LB's anyway. Which I never liked. It always seems to hurt them, as the LB's got injured, then they have only a few left.

I'm sure that in a vacuum they do like Williams more than someone like Wheat, but I just wonder if they would prefer to go with a stronger run player there or not? I think its going to be difficult to get him on the field if the rest of the group is healthy.

The roster construction piece will be very interesting to me, and you could be right that they keep 6 edge guys. I'm just not sure which way they'll lean. We know Ebeflus like his LBs so they may be heavier than we have been used to there, which I'd be a fan of. They also have Solomon Thomas who can bump out and play some DE as well. It could come down to do they want to keep more than 4DTs too...Would they try to get 2 of the 3 of Toia/Rogers/Akingbestote on the final roster to protect them? Looks like they have the depth where they could go heavy on OL, possibly even WR if they end up bringing in a vet. Do they keep a FB spot for Leupke? Just so much up in the air....itll be an interesting camp thats for sure as one thing thats hard to deny is the Cowboys have put together some interesting depth, and unless injuries make the decisions for the Cowboys itll be some tough decisions.

 

[fivetwos]

The fact that he is still on the team shows me that this so called claims of wanting "high character guys" is a complete fabrication. Not to mention that Jerry isn't going to let any coach have that kind of hand guiding the team.

Was thinking the same thing. I’m not a fan.

Between the playoff party and having to hold my breath and that he doesn’t take the punters head off on 4th and 13, he can be gone for all I care.

Not a smart player and yet another Jerry second round special who had no business being selected that high.

 

[CWR]

He's a pass rusher. His issue is being too impulsive both on and off the field. If he controls himself and stays on the field he will have a role. The guy can hunt QBs and I think this team will send pass rushers in waves on 3rd down because they won't blitz much. IMO Fowler is the one who will be gone after this season. Williams' fate is in his own hands

It's definitely Fowler gone. He only signed a one year, but Sam may be out the door as well. Unless he's so dominant they have no choice we likely get outbid. If he shows promise someone likely over pays for his services. If he does nothing, he walks.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

First off the team didn't draft need they drafted BPA so that's not really pertinent. Second who did we sign? We lost a starter and a top of the rotation guy. Fowler replaces one in a rotation. Peyton Turner? Have you watched him play? He is not good against the run and in 4 seasons he has 5 sacks. We really don't have more DEs than we had last year. Third his issue is staying on the field and not doing dumb things when he is on the field. If you don't think he has performed as a pass rusher you weren't watching. You do know in a similar number of snaps he had more sacks than Fowler in 2023 while both were here and it was only his second year and that he was going to have a much bigger role last year? Go back and check this board about how people felt after his injury last year. Did his play from the prior years get more underwhelming by him being hurt the last year? His head is his problem and possibly his injury recovery (I don't know about that one). The guy can rush the QB

so essentially you said what I said. this made up statistics of sacks per number of snaps is meaningless. he comes in when the other team is in passing situation. so essentially all he does is rush the passer. as you said, he is weak against the run, so essentially he is a second round pick that plays half the snaps...not a full time starter.

also, you keep saying his head is not right, he is not very smart, which makes him a liability and my point about him being average.

he is athletic, but not smart!!! that's the point.

he is a rotational guy that is weak against the run, can rush the passer and not very smart football player....

I have watched him and I am not impressed. he benefits a lot from stronger players around him. he is not the difference maker.

and regardless, we have him, fowler, kneeland, and now Eze....three rotational guys.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Underwhelming?
He had 4.5 sacks in a little over 300 attempts in 2023. For reference Lawrence had 4 in over 900.
One of those sacks he completely throttled Jordan Mailata. It was the only sack Mailata gave up for the season.
They let Armstrong and Fowler walk last season and Lawrence and Goulston this season!
They drafted DoEz and Kneeland ( strong side) and picked up Payton and Fowler back up. Fowler was crashing at the snap last season, not playing the run in hopes of getting one last big pay day, why his sacks were up and Washington didn’t resign him. If his history holds he’s due for a big drop in sacks.
Payton is an overdrafted bust, and injury prone going back to college!

sorry, I never much liked Lawrence, so mentioning him is not winning argument. he was way over paid and under performed.

and we are going to one play,!!!! where he did something good and you are jumping up and down celebrating!!!. he is a 2nd round pick. should be regular starter and high contributor. instead he is a part time situational pass rusher.

if you want to talk about one play in 300 snaps...I can do the same for 100s of players. no, make it a 1000 players who had that one big play they made....
its about consistency. its about being a complete player. he is neither of those. and not only that, he has been average on special teams, something that is for now should be his bread and butter. he single handedly has had several stupid plays on special teams, allowing the other team to continue their drives, costing us games.

they trusted him so much, they signed a whole bunch of other rotational players and selected another one in the 2nd round of the draft.

sorry, color me not impressed. he has not lived up to a 2nd round pick. he is not very smart.


if he is let go he is easily replacable. in fact I predict that after this season, we won't pick up his option and we let him walk.

 

[Creeper]

I have been wondering about him too. We haven't heard much about him lately. Earlier in the offseason I thought I read an article about his rehab and how he is determined to come back and prove something. I am glad he hasn't been in the news as he was his first couple of years. Maybe he has matured a bit and is taking his career more seriously. This is a contract year for him, maybe he understands he has to perform to get paid.

Getting hurt last year was a real letdown. They let Armstrong and Fowler go and I assume they wanted him to play a bigger role on defense. His injury ended that.

I have a feeling he is going to have a strong season in 2025 if he doesn't get hurt again. Either way, I think the Ezeiruaku selection means we have seen the last of Sam Williams in Dallas after 2025. It's too bad because he has the physical tools to be a special player.

 

[Jarntt]

so essentially you said what I said. this made up statistics of sacks per number of snaps is meaningless. he comes in when the other team is in passing situation. so essentially all he does is rush the passer. as you said, he is weak against the run, so essentially he is a second round pick that plays half the snaps...not a full time starter.

also, you keep saying his head is not right, he is not very smart, which makes him a liability and my point about him being average.

he is athletic, but not smart!!! that's the point.

he is a rotational guy that is weak against the run, can rush the passer and not very smart football player....

I have watched him and I am not impressed. he benefits a lot from stronger players around him. he is not the difference maker.

and regardless, we have him, fowler, kneeland, and now Eze....three rotational guys.

I don't think we are saying the same thing. He was drafted in the 2nd round because of his pass rush ability not his ability to stop the run. I'm saying he is very good at that. He only played his first two seasons and for his career we have had one side blocked off for Micah and the other a rotation of a bunch of guys so his opportunities have been limited in a time share with Tank plus a few other guys. You said he is underwhelming. I'm saying he is a very good pass rusher. If he rushed the passer FT in 2023 he might have had 10 sacks or real close to it and that was only his second season. I think his knee injury was early enough that it won't be an issue. I'm hoping he rehabbed 100% because again, my only concern with him is in between his ears

 

[Jarntt]

sorry, I never much liked Lawrence, so mentioning him is not winning argument. he was way over paid and under performed.

So you just don't like our DEs in general. Tank was great against the run

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

I don't think we are saying the same thing. He was drafted in the 2nd round because of his pass rush ability not his ability to stop the run. I'm saying he is very good at that. He only played his first two seasons and for his career we have had one side blocked off for Micah and the other a rotation of a bunch of guys so his opportunities have been limited in a time share with Tank plus a few other guys. You said he is underwhelming. I'm saying he is a very good pass rusher. If he rushed the passer FT in 2023 he might have had 10 sacks or real close to it and that was only his second season. I think his knee injury was early enough that it won't be an issue. I'm hoping he rehabbed 100% because again, my only concern with him is in between his ears

so he was over drafted? you don't draft a part time player in the 2nd round. you want a player that can be a regular starter with high level of contribution.

he played two seasons, where he came in only on passing downs and his job was to rush the passer, benefiting from those around him to get a few sacks (4 if you are counting).
he has had limited time, because he is not good enough. we are in the 4th year of him in the league and you are making excuses on why he has under performed.
he is a decent pass rusher. but its obvious the team doesn't fully trust him and is getting ready for his departure, given they signed Fowler, drafted Eze and Kneeland and looking for more.

and between the ears is my point. he is not a smart player and that makes him a liability.

 

[dupree89]

I'm not gonna lie, he has showed some brief flashes where I've said.......man, this guy might be a player. But I am wrong a lot

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

So you just don't like our DEs in general. Tank was great against the run

well, let me qualify why I said I didn't like him. He got paid as a top 5 and top 10 DEs, with expectations of pressuring QBs and getting sacks....not stop the run. you can find run defending DEs for a lot cheaper.....so that is my point and that's what you just said....

 

[MikeT22]

He’s entering the last year of his contract after missing all of last season. It will be interesting if Eberflus can get him to reach his potential. But I cant see Sam getting a 2nd contract here. This will likely be his last season here if he even makes the roster, depending on how his recovery has progressed.

 

[Carter]

I mostly remember him for stupid penalties so far.

 

[baltcowboy]

He's a guy that our former DC fell in love with, and drafted. With no affiliations to him with the new staff, does he have anyone here to vouch for him at this point? He has the potential and talent to be something special, but does he want to be? Sucks that he sustained the injury he did, but it's time for him to fight back and beat out guys that these new coaches have brought in. Does he make the cut?? Please give your thoughts

No matter how well Sam plays this season, the Cowboys will move on from him. I will give Sam this, he is 6’4 weight 270lbs so he is a true defensive end in size. I actually expect him to play well this season. Sam has just been to inconsistent but I believe he will have a Gholston type season.