The Lions have continued a strong opening night along the defensive line. Detroit has selected Ohio State’s Tyleik Williams at No. 28.
Despite rostering D.J. Reader and extending Alim McNeill, the Lions were continually mentioned as a potential landing spot for defensive line prospects during the pre-draft process. The organization ultimately landed on Williams, who has garnered increased attention in the weeks leading up to the draft.
The Ohio State product is plenty familiar to Buckeyes fans, having appeared in 51 games across four seasons. He showed some top-end pass-rush ability as a freshman, finishing with five sacks. Since then, he’s only compiled 6.5 sacks, but he still did enough to draw the attention of NFL teams. Listed at six-foot-three and 330 pounds, there’s hope that Williams can command multiple blockers when he’s playing at his best.
There may not be an immediate role for Williams in Detroit, but the rookie will surely be counted on moving forward. In addition to Reader and McNeill, the Lions also signed Levi Onwuzurike to a one-year deal in March. That’s enough depth to temporarily bury the rookie on the depth chart.
Considering that depth, there was some speculation that the organization would pursue an Aidan Hutchinson wingman with their first-round selection. However, the organization also understood that Reader will turn 31 in July and McNeill is coming off an ACL tear. If either of those players see a drop off, the team already had a solution in their 2025 first-round pick.
Ben Levine contributed to this post.
A somewhat confusing pick. I know McNeil might be out for the first 4-6 games, but the pass rush is a bigger need. Maybe the have a deal in place with ZS, and didn’t want to announce it until after the draft. Fingers-crossed.
Have to believe McNeil will miss the majority of the season (10+ games) so Williams is essentially going to fill his role until he returns and then ultimately replace DJ next season. Also likely means Broderick Martin is done in Detroit, which is a waste of a 2023 3rd rounder.
Do not love this pick at all, but have to trust Holmes as he’s proven all of us wrong too many times to count.
It’s not like teams only use a couple of DTs.
The more I think about it , the more I like this pick .. fixing sins from the past .. I remember when the lions didn’t pick Aaron Darnold when they knew N.Fairly and N.Suh we’re gonna be free agents