The Dallas Cowboys have seen exactly why New York Jets fans have spent so much time defending star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, as his debut with the team showed that he is still an All-Pro-level talent who can change the scope of a defense.
As part of the trade that sent multiple premium picks in the 2026 and 2027 NFL Drafts over to New York, Jerry Jones managed to offload extremely disappointing former first-round pick Mazi Smith. The Jets spent a few weeks trying to see if they could get the required effort they needed out of him.
It took all of two games for the Jets to admit that Smith is not going to be a player who makes that much of an impact on the team as a whole. Smith has been demoted to an inactive role ahead of the Jets' Week 12 clash against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
The Jets' inability to get even a month of good play out of Smith has now confirmed what Cowboys fans already knew. Despite his size and physical gifts, Smith is just not an NFL player.
Former Cowboys DT Mazi Smith already demoted to inactive by Jets
What makes Smith's demotion even more surprising is the fact that the Jets have some of the worst defensive line depth in the NFL. New acquisition Khalen Saunders, who is still trying to learn the playbook, was apparently thought of as a better backup behind Harrison Phillips and Jowon Briggs.
Smith's three big issues from his Dallas tenure have shown up in New York. He is a terrible run defender for someone as big as he is, offers virtually zero pass rush upside, and has some poor body language when things don't go his way. Jets Smith is identical to Cowboys Smith.
Even if the Jets viewed Smith as a complete lottery ticket who was guaranteed next to nothing when they acquired him in the Williams deal, the fact it took them two games to both sign a veteran alternative and demote him to the ranks of the inactives shows how little interest Aaron Glenn has in developing him.
Williams, meanwhile, looked every bit the game-wrecker he had been in New York. While the Jets might be able to use those Cowboys picks to great effect in the future, Dallas has to be thrilled with the early returns of what could be a very defining trade for their franchise.