He’s a mountain. Seriously. If you’ve ever seen Tyleik Williams stand next to a normal human being, it’s a bit jarring. At 6'3" and tipping the scales at 330-plus pounds, he looks like the guy you hire to move a piano by himself. But for the Detroit Lions, who snatched him up with the 28th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, he was never just about the size.
People look at his 2024 season at Ohio State and see a National Champion. They see the stats: 46 tackles, 8 for a loss, and a couple of sacks. What they don't see—or what casual fans miss—is how he literally forced offensive coordinators to change their entire game plan. You can’t just run "at" Tyleik. You try that, and your running back ends up looking like he hit a brick wall that can also move laterally at 15 miles per hour.
The Tyleik Williams Draft Profile: What the Scouts Knew
When you break down the Tyleik Williams draft profile, the first thing that jumps off the tape is the "pop." He doesn't just engage blockers; he shocks them. He has these massive 10.25-inch hands that he uses like mallets. In the 2025 draft cycle, there was a lot of talk about whether he was just a "space-eater" or a true three-down threat. Honestly, the answer was always somewhere in the middle, but leaning toward the latter.
His college career was a masterclass in transformation. He showed up in Columbus weighing nearly 360 pounds. He called himself "fat." His words, not mine. But by his senior year, he was a leaner (relatively speaking) 328-pound wrecking ball with a 4.9-second 40-yard dash. Think about that. A man the size of a refrigerator running nearly as fast as some tight ends. That kind of rare athleticism is why the Lions didn't hesitate when he was still on the board at the end of the first round.
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Strengths That Translated Instantly
- Brute Force: His bull rush is basically a car crash. He gets his hands inside, locks his elbows, and just drives 300-pound guards into the quarterback's lap.
- Lateral Agility: This is the part that surprises people. He can "scrape" along the line of scrimmage, staying gap-sound even when the offense tries to stretch the play outside.
- IQ: He recognizes screens before they happen. It’s like he has a sixth sense for when an offensive lineman is letting him through too easily.
- Versatility: He played everywhere from the 1-technique (nose) to the 4i-technique at Ohio State.
Why the "Run Stopper" Label is a Bit Unfair
Look, I get it. If you’re 330 pounds, people assume you’re just there to take up two gaps and let the linebackers have all the fun. And yeah, Williams is elite at that. He’s the reason guys like Tommy Eichenberg and Sonny Styles were able to fly around unblocked. But if you watch the tape against Oregon or Michigan in 2024, you see flashes of a pass-rush arsenal that most guys his size just don't possess.
He has a swim move that is way too quick for a man that big. It’s almost unfair. He also uses a "push-pull" technique where he baits the guard into leaning too far forward and then just tosses them aside like a bag of laundry. He didn't always get the sack, but he "crushed the pocket." In the NFL, that’s just as important. If the QB can’t step up because Tyleik is standing on his toes, the edge rushers get the glory.
The Real Concerns (and Why They Fell)
It wasn't all sunshine and roses. The Tyleik Williams draft profile had some yellow flags that kept him from being a top-10 pick. The biggest issue? Pad level. Because he’s so strong, he sometimes gets lazy and stands straight up at the snap. When an NFL guard gets under your pads, it doesn't matter if you weigh 500 pounds—you’re going backward.
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There were also some minor injury concerns. He missed a few games in 2024 with various lower-body dings. Nothing surgical, but enough to make some GMs wonder if his frame could handle the 17-game grind. He also had a tendency to "flash." You’d see three plays where he looked like Aaron Donald, followed by five plays where he just kind of existed.
Pro Comparison: Alim McNeill 2.0?
The most common comparison during the draft was Alim McNeill. It’s almost poetic that he ended up in Detroit alongside him. Both have that "squatty" power base and surprisingly nimble feet. But Williams might actually have a higher ceiling as a pure disruptor. He's a bit longer than McNeill and showed more natural pass-rush instinct coming out of college.
Now that we’re into early 2026, we’ve seen how this played out. Williams had a solid rookie year in Detroit, even if he didn't put up double-digit sacks. He finished his first season with about 18 tackles and a sack, but more importantly, he was a key reason why the Lions' run defense remained top-5 in the league. He admitted during locker room clean-outs this January that he’d give himself a "C+" for the year, mostly because he knows he needs to be more consistent with his hands.
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Actionable Insights for Scouting Similar Prospects
If you're looking for the "next" Tyleik Williams in the 2026 or 2027 drafts, here is what you should look for:
- The "Fat to Fit" Arc: Look for guys who significantly changed their body composition in college. It shows a level of professional discipline.
- 10-Yard Split over 40-Yard Dash: For DTs, the 40 doesn't matter. The 10-yard split does. If they can explode in those first 10 yards, they can win in the NFL.
- Screen Recognition: Watch how they react when an OL gives them a free pass. Do they blindly chase the QB, or do they look for the RB in the flat?
Tyleik Williams wasn't just a draft prospect; he was a lesson in not overthinking the "nose tackle" position. Sometimes, you just draft the biggest, strongest guy who can also run like a deer and let your coaches handle the rest. Detroit did exactly that, and they aren't complaining.
If you are evaluating interior defensive linemen for your dynasty league or just preparing for the upcoming draft cycles, pay attention to "displacement" over "sacks." A player who consistently moves the line of scrimmage backward—even if they never touch the quarterback—is the engine that makes a modern NFL defense go. Focus on prospects who maintain their anchor against double teams while showing the lateral agility to chase down zone-blocking schemes.