Ohio State '20 VA DT (JR) - Tyleik Williams ('23 Second Team All-BIG)

Tyleik Williams made his biggest impact of the season against Penn State after a quiet start to the year, and he hopes to build off of that: “I'm trying to do that every week.” https://t.co/209GoGgAAW

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 4, 2022

 

see y’all next year ! #free91

— Tyleik Williams € (@tyleikk) January 1, 2023

 

After playing a full season “in college shape” for the first time in 2022, Tyleik Williams still wants to get “faster and more physical” to make a bigger impact in 2023. https://t.co/mDofrWQ2pP pic.twitter.com/804xb48XXR

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 31, 2023

 

• On his biggest goals for the spring: “I just want to dominate. I feel like it’s my turn to step up. Our whole group needs to dominate. We need to implement the Rushmen back into what it’s been.”
• On stepping into a leadership role: “Me and Jaden (McKenzie) are like the old D-tackles. So trying to speak my mind, speak what I know to the younger guys. Because I’ve been here going on my third year, so I’ve seen a lot. Just gotta teach it to them.”
• Williams says Taron Vincent and Jerron Cage helped him find a love of the game again after missing his senior high school football season due to COVID-19.
• Williams says he was “lazy” when he first came to Ohio State but that Zach Harrison and the rest of the defensive line got on him early and made sure he put in extra work.
• Williams says “our group don’t have no weaknesses in my eyes,” and calls himself a “disruptor” on the defensive line.

 

‘I feel like I’m just a disruptor’: Tyleik Williams aiming to cause consistent havoc in 2023https://t.co/rJOqpSxnC4

— Lettermen Row (@LettermenRow) March 27, 2023

 

Tyleik Williams gets to Devin Brown for the sack pic.twitter.com/orbHBtUA5b

— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) April 1, 2023

 

DT TYLEIK WILLIAMS
No Buckeye had as many sacks in 2022 as Williams did as a true freshman in 2021. Even that year, Haskell Garrett was the only Ohio State player to register more than Williams’ five sacks.

So surely as a sophomore, given more opportunities in Johnson’s defensive tackle rotation, Williams would outperform his freshman pace, right? Not quite. Williams managed to tally just one sack in 2022 with four fewer tackles for loss than he had in far fewer snaps the year prior. Instead of Williams, it was fellow second-year lineman Mike Hall who exploded as the breakout defensive tackle on the roster, recording 4.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss before the bye week alone.

Based on the talent he displayed in his first year, though, it seems like just a matter of time before Williams begins making the kind of game-changing plays that stuff the stat sheet. With Taron Vincent and Jerron Cage moving on from the program, Williams, Hall and Ty Hamilton will be the breadwinners in the middle of Johnson’s defensive line, and the possibility of a stellar season from No. 91 should not be overlooked.

 

Ryan Day said Miyan Williams and Tyleik Williams are both expected to be back at practice soon. Neither was on the field when practice was open to the media Friday.

 

#Buckeyes DT Tyleik Williams is back practicing after tweaking his knee — what he called a prior injury — on the first day of training camp.

Williams today: "I'm feeling good. I'm back running, back practicing."

— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) August 17, 2023

 

Knowles said DT Tyleik Williams, who'd missed some time with an injury, is back.