It comes as no surprise that Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers are Ohio State’s top two leading tacklers three games into the 2023 season. It might come as more surprise who ranks third on the team in tackles behind them.
It’s not very common for a defensive tackle to be a top-three tackler on a football team – especially at Ohio State, where Larry Johnson is known to rotate his defensive linemen frequently – but through the first quarter of the Buckeyes’ regular season, only the two starting linebackers have more tackles than Tyleik Williams, who has already racked up 17 tackles this year.
Chambers says he and Eichenberg have fewer tackles than they could because of how many plays Williams has made along the front line.
“It's like a little bowling ball just going left to right all over the line. It's crazy. I mean, sometimes he’ll steal tackles from us,” Chambers said of Williams. “His ability to take on double blocks and then somehow peel off and make a tackle is pretty insane.”
Williams has flashed the ability to be a difference-maker on Ohio State’s defensive line since he was a true freshman. As a first-year Buckeye in 2021, Williams ranked second on the team with five sacks and tied for third on the team with 6.5 tackles for loss even though he only saw occasional playing time as a backup defensive tackle.
That created high expectations entering Williams’ second season as a Buckeye, but his production plateaued in 2022 as he recorded only 21 total tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack. As a result, Williams entered the 2023 season with less hype than fellow third-year defensive linemen JT Tuimoloau, Mike Hall and Jack Sawyer.
So far this season, though, Williams has been both Ohio State’s most consistently productive defensive lineman and its biggest difference-maker in the front four. In addition to his 17 tackles – seven more than any other Buckeye defensive lineman (Sawyer) – Williams is tied for the team lead with two tackles for loss and one sack and scored the Buckeyes’ first defensive touchdown of the year when he recovered a fumble in the end zone last Saturday against Western Kentucky.
The Buckeyes can't stop scoring
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 16, 2023
The @OhioStateFB defense adds on a TD pic.twitter.com/4IvF8rU6lK
What’s allowed Williams to turn his flashes of talent into more consistent production so far this season? For one, the 6-foot-2, 290-pound defensive tackle feels he’s in the best shape of his career.
Williams, who weighed 360 pounds when he arrived at Ohio State, has admitted in the past that he was “lazy” when he started his Buckeye career and that he didn’t have the stamina for frequent playing time. He’s proven that he does now by playing 115 defensive snaps in the first three games, the most of any Ohio State defensive tackle, including a career-high 50 snaps against Western Kentucky.
“I feel good not having to come off the side like breathing heavy, waiting for someone else to go in for me. I'm gonna just stay out there and help my team out as much as I can,” Williams said. “We have a great offseason training here. Getting us in shape, we run a lot, a lot of conditioning, but I think it's helped me tremendously on the field.”
Williams has done all of that despite suffering a knee injury on the first day of preseason camp. He’s still not fully recovered from that injury, but he hasn’t let it affect his play on the field.
“It's not really bothering me. I can be out there as long as you need me to,” Williams said. “Even though (Western Kentucky) was running tempo, I wasn't really tired.”
While Williams’ play often faded as he got tired in past years, Ryan Day saw the opposite from Williams against Western Kentucky.
“I thought there was actually times where he got better as the game went on,” Day said. “He's got power, he's got strength at the point of attack. He's very athletic. And he missed a little bit of time with a little bit of a tweaked injury at the beginning of preseason. And I think now he's finally got his feet back underneath him. I think he's doing a better job with his hands. He's powerful, he's athletic.”
Williams, whose seven tackles against Western Kentucky were a career-high, also attributes his improvement this season to an increased commitment to film study. While he acknowledges he didn’t take that as seriously as he could have in the past, he says he’s now spending a lot of time watching the opponent to prepare for each game.
“I always watched film, everyone watches film, but I would just watch it like here and there, like a couple minutes every day,” Williams said. “Now I’m like really into it. Like, you got to get me off the film. But I think it helps tremendously when you watch film.”
Williams says that’s enabled him to be successful on a weekly basis this season even though the Buckeyes have already played a variety of different offenses.
“I think studying is a big part of it. You know what they're gonna do ahead of time so you're not guessing out there, because when you guess, that's when gaps start opening up and big runs and stuff like that,” Williams said.
Tyleik Williams has recorded 17 total tackles with two tackles for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery touchdown this season.
With his improved work ethic on and off the field, Williams is showing he can be a star on Ohio State’s interior defensive line. He’s been trusted with playing the most snaps at his position in every game so far this year, and he’s embracing the role of being a leader now that he’s an upperclassman.
“I'm just playing harder, getting more snaps of course, and just trying to lead,” Williams said. “It feels amazing. I'm not really that talkative, but it’s something I got to learn and bring the younger guys with me so we can go do something special.”
As long as Williams continues to work hard and stay healthy, he should continue to play a major role on the defensive line all year long, as Ohio State’s coaches are big believers in his ability.
“Tyleik is extremely athletic, really athletic,” defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said. “The more repetitions that he gets, it just seems like the better he becomes. But staying healthy is a big thing.”
As well as Williams has played so far this year, he faces a bigger test this week against Notre Dame, whose offensive line is far more capable of matching up with Ohio State’s defensive line than any of Indiana, Youngstown State or Western Kentucky were. Ohio State’s defensive tackles must be at their best against a strong Notre Dame running game, but Williams expects to be prepared for the challenge.
“I think we're well-ready for it,” Williams said. “We've played teams like this before (in past years). Very good O-line, good running back. Good scheme, lot of counter, lot of inside zone. But we get on the film, I think it'll be a good game.”
