Any questions surrounding Tyleik Williams last season had little to do with his talent. That was plainly evident in the short windows that the true freshman had to display his ability on the field.
Rather, why Williams wasn’t playing more was the prevailing line of inquiry in 2021, given his high level of productivity during brief stints of playing time. Ten Ohio State defensive linemen logged more snaps than Williams last season, but only one – first-team All-Big Ten tackle Haskell Garrett – finished with more sacks than the five the freshman racked up.
In his first-ever interview session with members of the media since arriving at Ohio State, Williams finally provided an answer to that question Thursday, putting the blame on himself instead of the decision-making of Larry Johnson and the Buckeye coaching staff.
“My goals for the season were basically what I had. I always want more, but I wasn’t in shape so they couldn’t put me on the field,” Williams said. “That’s not on them, that’s on me.”
When the four-star 2021 prospect and Manassas, Virginia, native set foot on Ohio State campus as an early enrollee a year ago, he weighed 360 pounds. Listed at 330 as a high school recruit, Williams’ weight gain was a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which forced him to miss his senior season of high school football.
“I look at pictures back when I first got here and I’m just like, I don’t know how I let myself get like that,” Williams said. “Wasn’t playing the game, wasn’t working out for like six months, I was kind of eating a lot.”
It took until the start of mat drills during his first offseason at the next level for Williams to have a rude awakening about the condition he was in, and he quickly came to a realization about its sustainability.
"Last year I was actually huge, so I couldn’t show what I could actually do.”– Tyleik Williams
“When I first got here I thought I could play at that weight, but once we started spring, I was out of shape, like bad,” Williams said. “I wanted to go down, I felt like I couldn’t play at 360, I was too big. … When we started doing mat drills, I was just done. I was in the back just done, literally. Just gassed, bad.”
Williams said he was “always last” during drills, and strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti could tell right away that Williams would need significant work to get up to speed.
“He’s always positive but he knew I had to get down. He knew I was too big,” Williams said. “I was fat.”
Williams may have made improvements through his first spring and preseason, but by the start of the year, Johnson and company still weren’t ready to let the freshman loose on the defensive line.
Much of that may have had to do with the level of competition Ohio State started the season against, playing Minnesota and Oregon in the first two games of the year, but Williams logged just three total snaps between the two contests.
It took until Ohio State’s third game, a matchup with Tulsa, for Williams to get his chance, and he made the most of it. The 6-foot-3 defensive tackle came up with a crucial sack late in an all-too-tight ballgame with the Golden Hurricane, and the Buckeyes pulled away following that defensive stop to eventually earn a 21-point win.
Williams was even better the following week, recording two sacks in a 59-7 drubbing of Akron in Columbus, and he managed to notch his first sack against a Big Ten opponent the next week when the Buckeyes traveled to New Jersey for a matchup against Rutgers.
But despite racking up four sacks in three weeks, Williams never played more than 19 snaps in any game the rest of the season for the Buckeyes, and he said his conditioning was the primary reason for that.
| Pos | Player | MINN | ORE | TLSA | AKR | RUT | MD | IND | PSU | NEB | PUR | MSU | MICH | UTAH | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE | ZACH HARRISON | 65 | 55 | DNP | 33 | 36 | 45 | 28 | 64 | 54 | 44 | 35 | 48 | 50 | 507 |
| DE | TYREKE SMITH | 48 | 51 | 59 | DNP | DNP | DNP | 20 | 53 | 53 | 35 | 31 | 27 | 66 | 443 |
| DE | JAVONTAE JEAN-BAPTISTE | 28 | 33 | 47 | DNP | 14 | 44 | 25 | 31 | 13 | 31 | 22 | 25 | ST | 313 |
| DE | J.T. TUIMOLOAU | 13 | 12 | 45 | 35 | 41 | 20 | 12 | 22 | 10 | 19 | 12 | 22 | 22 | 285 |
| DE | JACK SAWYER | 4 | 3 | 16 | 37 | 34 | 17 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 173 |
| DE | CORMONTAE HAMILTON | DNP | DNP | 8 | 24 | 19 | 10 | 5 | DNP | ST | DNP | 2 | ST | ST | 67 |
| DE | JACOLBE COWAN | 2 | DNP | 11 | 5 | DNP | 13 | 7 | DNP | DNP | 3 | 3 | DNP | DNP | 44 |
| DE | DARRION HENRY-YOUNG | DNP | DNP | 4 | 14 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | 18 |
| DE | AARON COX | DNP | DNP | DNP | 4 | DNP | 5 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | 1 | DNP | DNP | 10 |
| DT | HASKELL GARRETT | 47 | 55 | 54 | 26 | 21 | 29 | 20 | 46 | 12 | 28 | 19 | 35 | DNP | 392 |
| DT | TARON VINCENT | 49 | 49 | 8 | DNP | 17 | 22 | 17 | 32 | 41 | 30 | 24 | 28 | 53 | 370 |
| DT | ANTWUAN JACKSON | 49 | 27 | 37 | 25 | 17 | 31 | 14 | 26 | 28 | 24 | 17 | 15 | DNP | 310 |
| DT | TY HAMILTON | 20 | 12 | 18 | 27 | 32 | 20 | 16 | 20 | 14 | 13 | 23 | 20 | 19 | 254 |
| DT | JERRON CAGE | DNP | DNP | 11 | 5 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 27 | 17 | 28 | 16 | 28 | 49 | 231 |
| DT | TYLEIK WILLIAMS | DNP | 3 | 21 | 29 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 2 | 17 | 183 |
| DT | JADEN MCKENZIE | DNP | DNP | DNP | 21 | 18 | 5 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | 44 |
| DT | MIKE HALL | DNP | DNP | DNP | 15 | DNP | 7 | 10 | DNP | DNP | DNP | 3 | DNP | DNP | 35 |
| DT | BRYCE PRATER | DNP | DNP | DNP | 1 | DNP | 1 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | 2 |
| DT | ZACH PRATER | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | 1 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | 1 |
| Snap counts courtesy of Pro Football Focus premium statistics. | |||||||||||||||
“(Johnson) don’t want me to go out there for two plays and be tired and have to sub me right out. So I just had to get in shape,” Williams said. “Towards the end of the year we all kind of got sick. After Michigan State we all had the flu, so that played a part in it too.”
Ever since the season concluded, Johnson has been hard at work improving his gas tank and dropping weight, and now walks around between 317 and 320 pounds in his second spring in Columbus.
Diet and exercise have been key in that pursuit, but Williams said he quickly got the hang of it once his regimen became routine.
“It was very hard because I’m big, I like eating,” Williams said. “I had to get on a diet plan, stair running, StairMaster and elliptical. But once you get on the track, I think it’s pretty easy.”
Williams said the weight loss has already paid major dividends on the practice field and that his speed has improved significantly.
“I think my agility has helped the most. I was always quick, but now I think I’m starting to actually see my true potential,” Williams said. “Because last year I was actually huge, so I couldn’t show what I could actually do.”
Williams was already fast for his size before losing the weight, but now that he’s trimmed up this offseason, Ryan Day and other members of the Buckeye defensive line are raving about the player he could be in 2022.
When asked about Williams at a press conference Tuesday, Day said the second-year lineman has one of the best 10-yard splits on the team, and that he’d put Williams right up there with the top athletes on the entire Ohio State roster.
“I think the difference now is he’s in much better shape than he was. That usually happens with those defensive tackles. His body’s very different, he can go for an extended period of time,” Day said. “I think when he first got here he’d flash for like one or two plays. And you always saw his athleticism, like, tremendously athletic. One of the better athletes we have on the team, believe it or not. From zero to 10 yards, he was one of our better times, and we have some really good athletes. He’s very, very athletic.
“But it’s the ability to sustain. That’s the thing that he’s gotten much better at. And then the challenge that probably Coach Johnson has for him is just his ability to sustain, but then also in the run game just being stout and strong play after play after play. Because that’s really, at defensive tackle, what it is. You have to be able to get in there and be able to play for an extended period of time. Just to flash one or two plays doesn’t quite get it done at this level, but that’s maturity, that’s where he’s going. But he flashed again today in practice.”
The difference in Williams’ performance in practice, not to mention physique, has also made an impression on fellow sophomore defensive lineman Jack Sawyer.
“When he came in he was kind of sloppier, kind of soft-looking. This year, I mean he looks good at 315,” Sawyer said. “It’s kind of crazy to see his body change. You can start seeing it day in and day out with him because he was so big at one point. He’s freaky fast. His 10 yards is ridiculous, he’s got a real good first step, he’s real twitchy. Just seeing him change his body was great. He’s feeling better, he’s moving better, so it’s good to see him like that.”
Despite his talent and the glowing reviews he’s received as of late, Williams may not begin the 2022 season as a starting defensive tackle with program veteran Taron Vincent returning at the 3-technique spot this year. That may very well change as the season progresses, however, and Williams lacks no confidence when describing what his plans are for his personal performance as a sophomore.
“Huge impact,” Williams said. “I always think I can – I believe in myself. We all believe in each other.”
