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Tyleik Williams injury update: Pete Thamel reveals availability for Ohio State DT

IMG_7408by:Andy Backstrom•09/27/24•

andybackstrom

Tyleik Williams by Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Ohio State defensive tackle Tyleik Williams rushes the passer during a Week 1 win over Akron. (Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK)

Ohio State senior defensive tackle Tyleik Williams will be available Saturday night at Michigan State, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Friday.

Williams missed last week’s 49-14 win over Marshall with an undisclosed injury and was considered “day-to-day” this week.

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Ohio State head coach Ryan Day confirmed Wednesday that Williams had practiced that evening.

“He practiced today and did OK,” Day said at the time. “He was out there today, which was great to see, and he had a good day.”

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Williams is one of the 11 draft-eligible and starter-level players who put his NFL dreams on pause and returned to Ohio State for the 2024 season. He had totaled nine tackles, including 1.5 sacks, in the first two games of the year, as well as four pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.

In 2023, the 6-foot-3, 327-pound defensive tackle mounted 54 total tackles — he combined for 37 his first two years at Ohio State — not to mention his 10.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks and five passes defended, plus a fumble recovery for a touchdown he recorded against Western Kentucky in Week 3. Maybe most notably, Williams upped his snap count significantly, playing 645 defensive snaps last season, according to PFF. He had notched 251 and 183 defensive snaps in 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Williams played 40 defensive snaps against Akron in this year’s opener and 30 more the following week against Western Michigan, per PFF. But because the Manassas, Virginia, native was sidelined this past weekend — and because it was a summer-like, heat-intensive day in the Horseshoe — Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson had to unfurl his defensive line rotation.

Redshirt junior Tywone Malone played 28 defensive snaps. Redshirt sophomore Hero Kanu, who started in place of Williams, was in for 26 defensive snaps. Sophomore Kayden McDonald logged 22 defensive snaps. And redshirt freshman Jason Moore notched 14 defensive snaps.

Those snap counts were all career highs, according to PFF.