Lions Expecting a Breakout Year From Tyleik Williams
Mike Payton breaks down why the Lions are expecting a bigger role for Tyleik Williams in 2026, what Detroit's coaching staff saw during its self-scouting process, and how Williams could become a key piece alongside Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeill.
Video Transcript
The truth is, any time Williams was on the field, he was, he was good.
He, he wasn't, you know, getting a ton of sacks or anything like that, but he was, he was run stuffing, he was, he was getting pressure, he was playing well.
And I think that really reflects in Calvin Shepherd's comments the other day, where he said, "We went back and, and we watched the video and self-scouted ourselves again on Williams, and it wound up being a lot better than we initially thought it was or had felt it was in 2025."
So I, I think you're gonna see Ty Lee come in.
Ob- obviously he's the starter next to Lee McNeil this year, but Williams will be the starter, and I think you're gonna see a much bigger year from him, and he'll be on the field a lot more, obviously, than he was last year.
And I expect to see much bigger things from him.
I, I think this is a good player and, and I really am interested to see how he affects not just the run stuffing game, but how he can space eat to help out other pass rushers.
But I also wanna see how he takes advantage of some of the attention that Aidan Hutchinson and Lee McNeil and Derek Moore and DJ Wonnum are gonna get, and see if he can get to the quarterback every now and again as well.
So this is gonna be a good season for him.
I look forward to seeing what happens
