The Houston Texans can instantly turn their defense around with this trade

Quinnen Williams abilities are rare and elite.

The 6’2, 302-pound lineman was drafted third overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. NFL draft analyst Lance Zeirlein had this to say about him in his predraft analysis:

"Williams hands, feet and overall movement are extremely efficient and he combines those features with short-area burst to create instant wins at the point of attack to propel him to the football. His play strength is good, but his lack of mass and length will show up at times against NFL competition. Despite having just a single season of headline production, his instincts, quickness and athleticism are projectable play traits that should allow for continued production against both the run and pass on the next level. Williams is an instant starter with Pro Bowl potential."

- Lance Zierlein

Since being drafted, Williams has outperformed even those lofty pre-draft expectations. Of Williams's 31 career sacks, 20 have come in the last two seasons. Those career years also coincide with the arrival of former San Francisco 49er defensive coordinator turned head coach Robert Salah. Clearly, Salah has unleashed an area of Williams’ game that laid dormant with the previous regime. 

Per PFF, Williams was the fifth-ranked pass rusher amongst all interior defensive linemen in 2022, behind only Aaron Donald, Chris Jones, Dexter Lawrence, and Javon Hargrave. That is a great crowd to be mentioned in the same conversation. He was second to only Jones in sacks within that group with 13. In addition, he rated as the fourth-best pass rusher on third downs, where 12 of his 13 sacks were produced.

So, the talent is there to garner his desire to be one of the highest-paid interior defensive linemen in all of football. But does he fit in Houston?