Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - In the days leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, WGR will provide profiles on some players that could be a good fit for the Buffalo Bills at positions of need.
As a lead up to the draft WGR will provide profiles on some players that would be a good fit for the Bills at positions of need. The four positions we will cover are: wide receiver, cornerback, defensive end and defensive tackle. We will highlight five players at each of those positions.
As we continue to focus on defensive tackles, this profile will feature Tyleik Williams from Ohio State University.
The defending national champions have four defensive linemen eligible for this year’s draft. The best of the bunch is Williams after the native of Manassas, Virginia played all four seasons with the Buckeyes.
Williams was First-Team All-State, a four-star prospect and the fourth-ranked senior in the state of Virginia coming out of high school. He weighed around 360 pounds back then, but is currently carrying 327 pounds on his 6-foot-3 frame.
As a freshman in 2021, Williams was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten, and ESPN tabbed him as an All-American. His 2022 season wasn't as good on paper, but that was attributed to Williams playing through a number of injuries over the course of the schedule.
2023 was his best year for the Scarlet and Gray. Williams led all BIg Ten defensive lineman in tackles on the way to being named a Second-Team All-Big Ten member and Second-Team All-American. He wrapped up his career with a national championship last season.
In 51 career games, Williams had 137 tackles, 27 tackles for a loss and 11.5 sacks. His stat line also included 10 passes defended, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Williams suffered a leg injury while running a 40-yard dash during Ohio State's pro day in late March, but said it wasn't anything serious.
Here is what Joe Marino from the “Locked on Bills” and “Locked on NFL Scouting” podcasts has to say about Williams:
Positives:
Very traditional nose tackle, run defense, eats space, absorbs blocks, does his 1/11th, big, powerful and not easy to move.
Williams is going to clog it up in the middle. He complements that ability to be firm at the point of attack and all the physical traits that lead to good run defense.
I think he's a very good processor. I think he understands where run schemes are trying to take the football and he knows where to go. His ability to leverage gaps and leverage ball is excellent. He's got really good pop in his hands so you talk about mass, you talk about popping the hands, and a good football IQ.
He's a really big-time player, in terms of defending the run, and he's got a crazy good motor. He's another guy that is big and he runs all over the place. The pursuit effort is consistently excellent.
Concerns:
I think there's just no pass rush upside here. He lacks length, as he only has 32-inch arms, and you're talking about 32-inch arms with a big burly chest. There's just not much reach, so everything that he does is played close to the vest.
I think that makes it hard to play with extension. I think that makes it hard for him to get to the edges of blocks and really be a good pass rusher. I think he does run extremely well, but I don't think he's a guy that has much quick twitch ability to get into gaps. So the pass rush ceiling here is very, very limited.
I would also say that for the compliments that I gave him about how powerful his hands are, he's got heavy hands, I don't think he's super technical with his ability to deconstruct blocks outside of just hand power. If you're looking for those counters and that ability to really beat blocks in other ways than just being able to push guys out of the way, I think he's kind of missing some of that technical refinement with his hands usage.
WGR will provide full coverage of the 2025 NFL Draft during all seven rounds, starting Thursday, April 24 and continuing through Saturday, April 26.
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