Ohio State's Tyleik Williams could be 'perfect' prospect for Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings could use some help against the run on the defensive line and Ohio State's Tyleik Williams could be the answer.
The defensive tackle is projected as Minnesota's "perfect 2024 NFL Draft prospect," according to Pro Football Focus.
The Vikings' interior defensive line is led by veteran Harrison Phillips but thins out after that, as Jonathan Bullard and Jerry Tillery are set to become unrestricted free agents. Jalen Redmond is also an exclusive rights free agent, so it would make sense for Minnesota to be eyeing some help at the position.
While Williams doesn't bring much of a pass-rush ability to a team — he earned a 61.3 pass rush grade this past season, per PFF — he's elite when it comes to playing against the run. That's an area the Vikings need to work on, as they consistently played below average against the run game in 2024.
According to PFF, Williams posted a run defense grade of 88.6 this past season for the Buckeyes, tallying 24 tackles and 22 defensive stops (tackles that constitute a "failure" for the offense, per PFF).
The 6-foot-3, 327-pound Williams earned positive PFF grades on 29.1% of all run plays in his final collegiate season, ranking fifth among all defensive interiors in the nation.
While the Vikings only allowed three 100-yard rushers against them this past season (San Francisco's Jordan Mason in Week 3 and Detroit's Jahmyr Gibbs in Weeks 5 and 18), no defensive lineman posted an overall defensive PFF grade of at least 60 this season between Phillips, Tillery or Bullard.
Minnesota could use some help on the pass-rush side of things as well, and Williams has shown some promise, albeit not recent in that department. In 2021, as a freshman at Ohio State, Williams posted a PFF pass-rush grade of 84 in only 183 snaps played and has since seen the grade drop ever since (74.2 in 2022, 68.4 in 2023 and 61.3 in 2024).
Minnesota currently has a single first-round pick in the later rounds and two fifth-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. They're also expected to be awarded a compensatory pick based on free agency comings and going this past year, according to NFL.com.