Lions Film Study: After seeing this, Tyleik Williams’ grades make no sense at all
Williams has been pretty impressive so far, especially against the run, but let’s see him against the pass.
A lot of Detroit Lions fans wanted an edge rusher in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and the Lions went with a defensive lineman, but not an edge. They selected Ohio State defensive tackle Tyleik Williams. After four games and four starts, Williams has looked pretty good. Lions head coach Dan Campbell had some good things to say about him during his interview with 97.1 The Ticket on Tuesday morning.
“Well, he’s just, he really, he’s gone about his business,” Campbell said. “It’s been quiet production. I mean that in a good way. He’s another one of these guys that does so many things that maybe not everybody sees, like, you can’t move the guy in a run game. Between he and Reader, you’re not moving those guys. But he does a ton. He’s got really good feet. He plays with leverage, strong hands, and, man, he can bottle up the freaking runs, man.
“And then he’s got sneaky push in the middle. He can get an edge and push, and in the pass game, so he’s been a guy that man, he continues to get better. And there again. You don’t always see it in the stats, but he’s doing so much that’s helping all these other guys with their stats. And that’s what this game is about. That’s what defense is about. It’s the unselfishness, and he has to do a lot of his dirty work. And he’s doing a damn good job with it.”
There’s no doubt that Williams can bottle up the run, but I wanted to see what that quiet production looks like against the pass. So I went and looked at the tape, and here are some of the clips I came away with that show Campbell is right. Williams is affecting things.
Clip 1: Taking on the double team opens up for an Aidan Hutchinson one-on-one win
This is great. Williams first goes to engage No. 77 and then bounces off him to engage No. 55. When he chips 77, that takes him out of the possibility of trying to double-team Aidan Hutchinson. It leaves No. 71 alone with Hutchinson, and he gets beaten pretty easily, allowing Hutchinson to get the sack. This play doesn’t happen without Williams chipping 77 off the double team. Really good stuff.
Clip 2: Shifting the double team over to open up a gap for Hutchinson leads to an interception
Williams doesn’t do this alone, but he picks up a double team as the line shifts to the left. DJ Reader comes in and takes a guy, and then Hutchinson goes over the middle and rushes into the gap and forces Joe Flacco to throw. D.J. Reed then picks it off. This doesn’t happen if that gap isn’t open, and Williams helped open it.
Clip 3: Taking on a double team allows O’Connor to win his one-on-one
Again, he takes on a double team, and the Browns’ offensive line is at fault for it. They’re buying into some of the pressure that Williams is bringing, and we’ll show those in a minute. But here the double team springs Pat O’Connor to get in and get enough pressure to force an incomplete pass.
Clip 4: Bringing the pressure
Ultimately, not all of them work. In this case, Williams was spectacular and brought the pressure. Maybe a second quicker, and he’s getting the sack, or at least half a sack there. At the end of the day, Flacco made a good pass, and these things just happen from time to time.
Still, this was that solid push that Campbell was talking about. This is where those Alim McNeill comparisons make sense.
Clip 5: Pressure forces short throw
It’s not as clean as the last one, but this short throw happens because of Williams. He’s closing in here and pushes his man back into Flacco’s face, and then Williams does the right thing by getting his hands up. It’s unlikely he would have gotten the sack, but the pressure forces a checkdown, and that’s still a big deal.
The final takeaway from this study is that the Lions got themselves a great player, and when Alim McNeill returns, Williams will be a luxury off the bench. I look forward to the days when Williams and McNeill are starting side by side. They could be a problem together.