The Lions asked a lot of Tyleik Williams as a rookie, and he did his best to deliver. An immediate replacement for Alim McNeill and a likely long-term replacement for DJ Reader, Williams popped at times, struggled at others and ultimately finished strong.
"If I were to grade myself, I probably would give it, like, a C, C+," Williams said Monday as the Lions wrapped up a disappointing season. "I could’ve done a lot of things better, but I’m still a rookie. This is a different playing field than college, so just gotta adjust to that and get better this offseason."
The Lions drafted the defensive tackle from Ohio State 28th overall, knowing they'd need him to make an impact off the bat while McNeill rehabbed a torn ACL. He started the first six games of the season next to Reader and made a number of strong plays in the Lions' Week 2 rout of the Bears, including two batted-down passes, one of them on fourth down.
But Williams saw his role reduced when McNeill debuted in Week 7, and was later passed on the depth chart by veteran nose tackle Roy Lopez. He sunk to 11 snaps in Week 9 and just eight in Week 10. At the time, Dan Campbell cited consistency as the issue for Williams, who was learning to play in a stricter scheme up front than the one he played in at Ohio State. With the Buckeyes, Williams had the freedom to occasionally jump out of gaps to hunt the football and make plays. Not here.
"I think I was playing pretty well in the beginning, and then some things happened, injuries happened, and I think I took a little dip," Williams said. "And then over the last few weeks I thought I was starting to play a little better."
He indeed looked more disruptive down the stretch, even as the defense came undone. His best game might have been in the season finale when he had a tackle for loss, batted down a pass and helped the Lions get after Caleb Williams and shut down the Bears' potent rushing attack.
It's hard to put up major stats at Williams' position, especially for a rookie who took on double-teams on more than half his snaps, per Pro Football Focus. That being said, the Lions would have liked more production from Williams than 18 tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack in 17 games, and will need it moving forward. He was outdone by several other rookies at his position who played a similar number of snaps.
Derrick Harmon of the Steelers, drafted 21st overall, had 27 tackles and three sacks. Jamaree Caldwell of the Chargers, a third-round pick, had 31 tackles and five tackles for loss. Darius Alexander of the Giants, a third-rounder, had 20 tackles, four tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Deone Walker of the Bills, a fourth-rounder, had 39 tackles and eight tackles for loss. Jordan Phillips of the Dolphins, a fifth-rounder, had 35 tackles (but only one tackle for loss).
The rookie defensive tackles whose play-time and production most closely mirrored that of Williams were Alfred Collins of the 49ers, a second-rounder who had 17 tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack; Elijah Roberts of the Buccaneers, a fifth-rounder who had 14 tackles, two tackles for loss and two sacks; and Yahya Black of the Steelers, a fifth-rounder who had 28 tackles with no tackles for loss or sacks.
Still, by the overall PFF grade, Williams ranked fourth among qualified rookie defensive tackles, befitting the fifth defensive tackle taken in his draft. Known as a cerebral player in college with a knack for reading offenses, Williams said he felt his biggest gains this season in "my overall IQ."
"I’m able to call out plays (before the snap) and stuff like that, give my team an advantage by playing the run well, closing the pocket, getting my hands up," he said. "That’s really it, just trying to be a better team player, for real."
Both Williams and the Lions believe he has more to unlock as a pass-rusher, much like a young McNeill. Williams was fifth among rookie defensive tackles with 19 QB pressures, per PFF, but tied for ninth with just one QB hit. He said that improving his "get-off, keying the ball more and working my hand-eye coordination" will help him in that department moving forward.
"Normal stuff," said Williams, "nothing crazy."
All to say, a C+ feels like a fair grade for Williams' first season with the Lions. Trouble was, none of his teammates on the interior were much better, including McNeill and Reader. Lopez was the most productive of the bunch, leading the group in tackles (30), tackles for loss (4), sacks (2) and QB hits (5) despite playing fewer snaps than each one of them. Good on Lopez, but that is not at all what the Lions envisioned when they put this defensive line together.
Reader and Lopez are both free agents; it's unclear if either will be back. What's abundantly clear is that both McNeill and Williams need to make a bigger impact next season for Detroit's defense to take a leap. One's a first-round pick, the other's among the highest-paid defensive tackles in the NFL. Next year, Williams won't be a rookie. McNeill won't be coming off a torn ACL. And the Lions will need more return on their investment.
"Having that feeling of not being in the playoffs, we gotta come back hungrier," said Williams. "I gotta get better, we all gotta get better, work on our craft and hopefully we don’t have this feeling next year."