Tyleik Williams committed to Ohio State during the COVID-19 pandemic when he was a 270-pound four-star recruit out of Stonewall Jackson High School in Virginia. By the time he arrived in Columbus, his weight had ballooned closer to 360 pounds.
Ohio State defensive line coach, Larry Johnson, had been in regular contact with Williams but always through Zoom, where he only saw Williams’ face and chest. It wasn’t until Williams stepped on campus that Johnson said he and the coaching staff were initially taken aback by Williams’ body change — initially is the key part there.
“We were all like, ‘Oh my God. What happened here?'” Johnson said on a conference call last week after the Lions made Williams their first-round selection (No. 28 overall) in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Despite the significant weight gain, Williams came in and his athletic testing was still off the charts for a man his size, running a 40-yard dash in 4.9 seconds with a 10-yard split around 1.6 seconds. That’s when Johnson knew everything would be all right.
“We said, ‘Ok, we’re good. We’re good.’ That’s special, right?” Johnson said. “He’s been very quick. He’s got some running back skills for a big guy with a big body.”
Williams worked with the Ohio State dietician, trained in the weight room and dropped down to 317 pounds by the end of his first year. It made those movement skills jump out even more, and coupled with what Johnson said was one of the highest football IQ’s of any player, Williams took off and became one of the best prospects he’s ever coached in his nearly 30-year collegiate coaching career.
“I’m a big fan of Aaron Donald,” Johnson said. “The ability to move his body so quickly. Aaron’s probably not as heavy as Tyleik, but just the movement skill set, the ability to move and change direction, I think Tyleik does it really well.”
That’s obviously a huge comparison using the name of a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer in the same sentence as an incoming rookie with still much to prove, but Johnson explained.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying he’s Aaron Donald, but you know, his movement skills, how he can be able to change directions — Aaron Donald is really good at going, you know, what we call, ‘Jab-Ole’ inside-outside,” Johnson said. “And then he can go power. I think Tyleik has the same kind of movement because he can go power, he can go finesse up the field if you give him the opportunity.
“Aaron Donald was in a league by himself, you know I mean?” Johnson said. “I don’t want to put that pressure on Tyleik going into the league as Aaron Donald, but there is some things that he does that Aaron Donald does real easy, and Tyleik has that same kind of movement skills.”
Johnson has coached 15 First-Team All Americans at Penn State and Ohio State, and he said Williams set himself apart from the rest with his quickness, first step and ability to bend at his size.
“He’s never looked like anyone I’ve coached in college football, “Johnson said. “He’s different. He’s got a different (skill) set. I’ve coached great inside players but not as quite as twitch as him. Dre’Mont Jones comes close, but Dre’Mont wasn’t 334 (pounds). This guy is 334 playing like a guy 260. And that’s uncommon to have that skillset. He’s been blessed and I think he has a great opportunity to be a real great fit in Detroit.”
Along with a unique skillset, Johnson said Williams also possesses a high football IQ and the combination of those two things has a chance to make him a special player in the middle of the Lions’ defense.
“You can tell he’s a student of the game,” Johnson said. “He’s very coachable. You give it to him one time, he’s got it. I think that’s what makes him different. He really is.
“He has a chance to advance his skill set because he knew how to play hard. I think that’s important for young players to understand, when you can play hard and then grasp technique at the same time, you can really advance your skill set very fast. That’s what Tyleik did. That’s why he’s in his position today.”
