Cowboys edge rusher Sam Williams sets aggressive goal for 2023 season

The Dallas Cowboys saw flashes of greatness last season from rookie Sam Williams. As the edge rusher enters Year Two in the league, he intends to establish himself with a breakout season. To him, that means double-digit sacks.

“I need 10 sacks,” Williams said at OTAs, via DallasCowboys.com. “Ten sacks will open up a lot of opportunities for me. Obviously, the team goal is to win a championship, but my personal goal and what I’m working towards is getting better with my hands, and I need 10 sacks.”

Selected in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Williams had 22 tackles with four sacks and 10 tackles for loss last season. A car crash late in the season that involved reckless driving took some shine away from his resume but the former Ole Miss star put his head down and got back to work.

Defensive line coach Aden Durde is seeing the fruits of Williams’ offseason labor already.

“You can see that he’s learned how to develop himself, and that’s not to say that we don’t develop them, but the biggest jump for Sam is he’s becoming a true professional,” Durde said on Thursday. “I see the work that he puts in and the structure that he’s put in off of the field.

“He comes in and you see his flexibility has changed, his coordination has changed, his stance is better. The things he’s needed to work on, he’s gone out and worked on and improved. I’m excited for him.”

More sacks could be on the way for Williams, especially as the Cowboys move Micah Parsons around more in 2023. Parsons told fans he’s ready to play up to eight different spots on the field in an attempt to open up opportunities for other players, like Williams.

Micah Parsons coming off the ‘sack wave’

“Micah, clearly, is at the stage in his career, he’ll always be extremely impactful, it’s up to us to create those opportunities for him,” Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said this offseason.

“From an offensive perspective, when you line up a premiere player at the same spot, it’s easier. The next measure of Micah being an elite player, it’ll be about impacting the game and the opportunities he creates for others.”

Parsons has taken his coach’s goals for him to heart. He told reporters on Thursday that he’s “off the sack wave.”

“I’m kinda off the sack wave. I’m onto the impact wave,” Parsons said, via Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. “You see Aaron Donald. He can have 12 sacks, but the impact he makes is so dominant. You can tell.

“I really just want to be dominant. And then you see guys who have 16-17 sacks, but they’re not considered a guy. I want to be a guy, not one of the guys. You feel me? I’m not chasing for something. I’m trying to achieve and be greater than someone who is chasing.”