Dan Campbell explains why the Lions didn’t play Tyleik Williams a lot against the Vikings and Commanders
That explains a lot
In Week 9, the Detroit Lions suffered a 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, and one of the more confusing things about that game was that first-round pick Tyleik Williams only played 11 snaps.
On Sunday, they beat the Washington Commanders 44-22, and Williams only played eight snaps. This had some Lions fans wondering if he was injured, and it had others wondering if he is a bust. The latter is ridiculous, by the way. So, what happened?
Lions head coach Dan Campbell explains why Tyleik Williams didn’t play a lot against the Vikings and Commanders
“Tyleik’s just a young guy continuing to get better, growing,” Campbell said on 97.1 The Ticket Tuesday morning. “There’s a little inconsistency at times, but that’s not out of the norm. Correct it, get a little bit better, and move on. The hard thing for him, which is a good thing for all of us, is Mac (Alim McNeill) is playing good, (DJ) Reader’s playing good, (Roy) Lopez is playing good. So like, hey, man, you got some good players in front of you right now, and so what you do is elevate his game, and then he’ll be in front of them.”
There you go. As we suspected, this is the case of a rookie being a rookie, and there is some strong veteran play in front of him. It makes sense with where the Lions are right now. Their drafts are no longer about finding the next starter right now, but more so in the future. Reader won’t play forever. You would think that in 2026, there’s a strong chance that McNeill and Williams start in the middle.
I know that will be hard for some fans to bite on since the first round has generally been for players who are starting right away. It’s just not where the Lions are right now. This does not make him a bust. Not even remotely close.
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