Bleacher Report’s latest defensive linemen rankings put a bright spotlight on the middle of the Cowboys’ front, and Dallas showed up twice in the top 20.
Quinnen Williams checked in at No. 1 overall, while Kenny Clark landed at No. 19, giving the Cowboys a pair of interior defenders recognized among the league’s best ahead of the 2026 season. Williams was placed in the top tier, labeled “Pro Bowl Caliber,” and Bleacher Report’s scouting staff singled him out for his “strength, motor, and active hands” even after he posted a career-low 2.5 sacks last season.
That sack total didn’t move him out of the top spot. The evaluation still framed Williams as an impact player who can wreck things both against the run and on passing downs, and Dallas is expected to lean on that kind of force in a major way. First-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker will be counting on Williams to anchor the Cowboys’ defensive front in 2026.
Clark, meanwhile, was slotted into the third tier as a “Critical Roster Piece.” The three-time Pro Bowler drew praise for the kind of flexibility coaches love, with Bleacher Report noting that he lined up “anywhere from a 0-technique nose tackle to a 5-tech defensive end” last year. For a Dallas defense trying to rebound after one of the worst defensive seasons in franchise history in 2025, that kind of versatility matters.
The Cowboys’ investment up front has been aggressive over the past year, and these rankings underline it. Dallas brought in Clark from Green Bay in the August 2025 blockbuster that sent Micah Parsons to the Packers. Then, at the trade deadline in November, the Cowboys sent a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick, and defensive tackle Mazi Smith to the Jets to land Williams.
With Williams and Clark in place, Dallas enters 2026 with a much stronger interior than it had a year ago. The hope is that this group can help push the Cowboys back to the postseason for the first time since 2023.
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