Speaker 1: You want to follow the Big Ten in specifically Ohio State.
Speaker 1: Pat Murphy does a really good job covering both, but
Speaker 1: especially Ohio State. He knows the Ohio State Buck guys
Speaker 1: inside and out from a football standpoint, a basketball standpoint.
Speaker 1: He coaches as well. He's the Ohio State b writer
Speaker 1: for Buck Nuts two four seven, twenty four to seven
Speaker 1: Sports and CBS Sports. You can follow him on Twitter
Speaker 1: or X Underscore Pat Underscore Murphy. He joins us here
Speaker 1: on XES and Bros. Pat, We appreciate the time very much.
Speaker 1: How are you today?
Speaker 2: I'm good. How you guys doing, Hey, we're doing great.
Speaker 1: So obviously, the Lions in the draft in the first
Speaker 1: round take Tyleer Williams, the defensive tackle out of Ohio State.
Speaker 1: What kind of player are they getting?
Speaker 2: Yeah, a hell of a player. To put it bluntly,
Speaker 2: this is a guy who really emerged kind of over
Speaker 2: the second half of his college career. Versatile in his game.
Speaker 2: You know, you look at the stats and he's pulling
Speaker 2: him up here, you know, eleven and a half sacks
Speaker 2: and that includes last season where obviously, you know, the
Speaker 2: Buck guys were successful on the field with the national championship,
Speaker 2: but he dealt with some injuries that that forced him
Speaker 2: to miss a couple of games. Never really looked fully back.
Speaker 2: You know, came back and played a big part in
Speaker 2: that playoff run. But I think if he'd been healthier,
Speaker 2: maybe those numbers look even better. But you know, a
Speaker 2: guy that can can rush the passer but can also
Speaker 2: help in the run game, can help clog up that middle.
Speaker 2: And you know, I always admired the way he worked
Speaker 2: to get better because he didn't come in as a
Speaker 2: guy who was like plug and play right in the
Speaker 2: middle of that defensive line right away. Had to earn
Speaker 2: a lot of what he got, which was was something
Speaker 2: that was was you know, a talking point throughout his
Speaker 2: career on that defensive one.
Speaker 1: Would you what would you consider his strengths to be.
Speaker 2: I think the probably the most notable thing would be
Speaker 2: his his his pass rushing ability from the interior. Uh
Speaker 2: you know, twenty eight tackles for a loss, eighteen of
Speaker 2: those coming in the last two years. He can get
Speaker 2: get after the quarterback, get after ball carriers in the backfield.
Speaker 2: You know, I think that thinking about it from a
Speaker 2: Detroit Lions perspective and kind of what else is already
Speaker 2: on that defensive line. I think it's a nice fit
Speaker 2: with some of the other guys that have and maybe
Speaker 2: take some pressure off of a guy like Date Hutchinson
Speaker 2: who's obviously had to do a lot when when he's
Speaker 2: been healthy. But that's not to say that he can,
Speaker 2: only that that's the only thing he can do. Like
Speaker 2: I said, you know you can take up space, help you.
Speaker 2: I think of the to Michigan defensive lineman that went
Speaker 2: earlier in the draft and kind of the way especially
Speaker 2: against Ohio State, which is when I saw them, and
Speaker 2: the way they shut down things like Tyler Williams is
Speaker 2: capable of being that type of player as well. That
Speaker 2: may not be what he was used as because Ohio
Speaker 2: State that other guys to help with that, but I
Speaker 2: don't I don't think just because he has that pass
Speaker 2: rushing ability that may be some other defense interior defensive
Speaker 2: line and have, he can't be the rung stopper as well. Well.
Speaker 2: So a nice mix, I would say, at least throughout
Speaker 2: his college career.
Speaker 1: That's interesting, Pat because two questions and both times you've
Speaker 1: emphasized pass rushing ability and most people don't view him
Speaker 1: as that. They view him as a run stuffer, really
Speaker 1: heavy hands, good job in deconstructing blocks, great job at
Speaker 1: the point of attack, impactful in the run defense. They
Speaker 1: don't view him as a guy who is going to
Speaker 1: rush the passer. Why do you think he can do
Speaker 1: that at the NFL level?
Speaker 2: Well, I think there's a couple of reasons. I think
Speaker 2: one that viewed that way is probably some of last
Speaker 2: year as the defensive ends Jack Sawyer and JT. Tumlau
Speaker 2: kind of came along as a tandem that wasn't as
Speaker 2: prolific part of his game. You look at his junior
Speaker 2: year twenty twenty three, ten tackles for lost, three sacks.
Speaker 2: He was doing it more I think as a junior,
Speaker 2: getting into the backfield and getting two quarterbacks. And again
Speaker 2: I mentioned the injury, So you know, I just I
Speaker 2: think I guess I would say he is an all
Speaker 2: around you're your defensive lineman who can do what you
Speaker 2: need from him. So when he needed to help you
Speaker 2: generate more pressures on quarterbacks and then O High State
Speaker 2: wasn't getting the pass rush off the edge, he was
Speaker 2: able to do that. And when that wasn't as big
Speaker 2: of a deal for hit for the buck eye, he
Speaker 2: could handle you know what you were saying, the run
Speaker 2: stopping and sort of taking up that space on the
Speaker 2: interior and being more of a bigger body with like
Speaker 2: you said, the hard hands and whatnot. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Pat Murphy joining us here on Exis and Rose. He's
Speaker 1: the writer for buck Nuts two four seven, twenty four
Speaker 1: to seven Sports at CBS Sports. You can follow him
Speaker 1: on Twitter. Underscore Pat Underscore Murphy. Is he a plug
Speaker 1: and play guy? I mean, you said he wasn't coming
Speaker 1: into Ohio. Stay, do you think he's developed enough where
Speaker 1: the Lions would feel comfortable for him to be a
Speaker 1: starter from day one?
Speaker 2: I think so. And I want to say, you know,
Speaker 2: I've watched the beast amount of life, but I couldn't
Speaker 2: say that I know the depth chart. Uh, you know,
Speaker 2: back and forth, but uh, you know, I think they
Speaker 2: must think so to go get him at as a
Speaker 2: first round guy. He was a guy who was projected
Speaker 2: kind of early on maybe as a late first round guy.
Speaker 2: And then I think, as you know, other guys, And
Speaker 2: again I go back to that injury because I do
Speaker 2: think that affected sort of the perception on him because
Speaker 2: he wasn't as productive coming back from that, and and
Speaker 2: that was a topic of conversation, and I do think
Speaker 2: in the playoff run he had more time to heal
Speaker 2: up between games, so you started to see that again.
Speaker 2: But I think he can be a guy who can
Speaker 2: can make an impact early on, whether that is as
Speaker 2: a starter or as a guy who you know, can
Speaker 2: be a rotational guy and work his way into a
Speaker 2: bigger role, which is kind of how it happened in
Speaker 2: Ohio State. Either way, I think he can make an
Speaker 2: impact as a rookie. It just kind of depends on
Speaker 2: needs and you know, as I that you will work
Speaker 2: to do what you need as a team. Uh, you know,
Speaker 2: a real character guy. He was Ah, you know, he
Speaker 2: was always good to talk to, always gave good information
Speaker 2: from a media perspective. But also I think his teammates,
Speaker 2: you know, good personality in the locker room. So I
Speaker 2: think you kind of combined the ability with all of
Speaker 2: that and his want to win, and you've got a
Speaker 2: guy who will do whatever's asked of him. So if
Speaker 2: that's Hey, let's get in here and let's make you
Speaker 2: a starter from day one, I think he'd love that,
Speaker 2: no doubt. But I think if it is hey, let's
Speaker 2: let's continue to work and utilize some of the things
Speaker 2: we think you're best at right now and worked you in.
Speaker 2: I think he will focus on improving and accept that
Speaker 2: role as well.
Speaker 1: He will have a chance because of Allen McNeil's injuries,
Speaker 1: so they'll have a chance to get in there and
Speaker 1: contribute right away. I hate comparing pat players, especially young
Speaker 1: players fresh out of college to to anybody who is
Speaker 1: you know, at the NFL level and has been playing
Speaker 1: for a long time. I hate, I especially hated when
Speaker 1: people are trying to project what a player is going
Speaker 1: to be and compare him to like a Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame player. But let me just give you based on
Speaker 1: your website. CBA sports dot com they had Mason Graham
Speaker 1: from Michigan, Walter Nolan from Ole, miss Derek Harmon from Oregon,
Speaker 1: Kenneth Grant from Michigan, all rated above Tyleek Williams. How
Speaker 1: much would you have concurred at season's end and who
Speaker 1: does he play most like within this draft? Which player
Speaker 1: is he most similar in your mind? And why?
Speaker 2: I think that's probably fair. Again, I hate to keep
Speaker 2: bringing up the injury, but I do think it affected
Speaker 2: as part of the story, was right, Yeah, yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 2: I think Harmon out of Oregon is a guy who,
Speaker 2: having seen him play twice last season first hand when
Speaker 2: Ohio State played them, a similar type of guy, or
Speaker 2: at least can be. You know, I don't think he
Speaker 2: is necessarily in the exact same mold as as a
Speaker 2: two Michigan defensive tackles. Again, not that he can't do
Speaker 2: some of that stuff, but you know the way that
Speaker 2: the order defense tackle could impact games statistically, I thought
Speaker 2: was similar to at least the way Ohigh State was
Speaker 2: able to use TYLERK. Williams. But I think rankings wise,
Speaker 2: that makes sense. But I would also say all of
Speaker 2: those guys, if you told me I had to pick
Speaker 2: one of them, I wouldn't feel disappointed about plugging them
Speaker 2: into to my team. I think those are all pretty
Speaker 2: good players that we had an opportunity to see in
Speaker 2: the Big Ten.
Speaker 1: Patrick Murphy knows tyleerk Williams as well as anybody. He
Speaker 1: writes for Buck Nuts two four seven. He writes for
Speaker 1: twenty four to seven Sports and CBS Sports. You can
Speaker 1: follo him on Twitter at Underscore Pat Underscore Murphy joining
Speaker 1: us here on Exus and Bros. Remind the audience of
Speaker 1: the injury to Tyler Williams, and what do you think
Speaker 1: his ceiling would have been without it as a draft pick?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. If I remember, Ohio State is a
Speaker 2: little quiet about injuries. We know that they happened, they
Speaker 2: don't always tell us what they were. If I remember correctly,
Speaker 2: it was I want to say a shoulder injury. I
Speaker 2: know he had a knee or lower body injury at
Speaker 2: one point in his career, and it's possible I'm mixing
Speaker 2: those two up, but I think it was a shoulder
Speaker 2: injury that past year. It just sort of slowed him down.
Speaker 2: Like I said, I think he missed I'd have to
Speaker 2: look at this thing, one or one or two games
Speaker 2: early on in the year. Came back and again was
Speaker 2: still productive, but just there was just a noticeable you know,
Speaker 2: probably still dealing with some stuff. I think it was
Speaker 2: one of those where you're not gonna it's not going
Speaker 2: to get any worse, but you're not going to the
Speaker 2: one hundred percent better until the season's over. And whether
Speaker 2: I don't know if he ended up having anything done
Speaker 2: to it or if it was just recovery time, but
Speaker 2: just was you know, it just slowed a little bit,
Speaker 2: I would say, but it didn't sound like when we
Speaker 2: talked to him in the playoffs. Uh, he did did
Speaker 2: not speak at the NFL Combine. I don't know if
Speaker 2: that was his medical related or other people, because it
Speaker 2: got very backed up the day that the defensive tackles
Speaker 2: were supposed to talk, and they ended up pulling a
Speaker 2: few of them towards the end. But he did work out,
Speaker 2: He did go through stuff at both O High States
Speaker 2: Pro Day and the Combine, So looks to be it's
Speaker 2: not coming back one hundred percent close to it, and
Speaker 2: I don't think it's something he'd have to worry about
Speaker 2: going forward to something he had to deal with as
Speaker 2: in his final year.
Speaker 1: I think at Ohio State had fifteen players drafted, four
Speaker 1: in the first round. What was your biggest surprise on
Speaker 1: where they were drafted or that they were drafted at all.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the biggest surprise overall, I'd say, was
Speaker 2: that Seth McLaughlin center, who won the Wilmington Now he
Speaker 2: did tears achilles the second to last week of the
Speaker 2: regular season. The fact that he wasn't drafted was probably
Speaker 2: the biggest surprise. I think most people thought he'd be
Speaker 2: at least a late round pick, given what he was
Speaker 2: able to do his last year also played at Alabama.
Speaker 2: A good pedigree there. If we're talking just first round,
Speaker 2: I think Donovan Jackson coming up and going to the
Speaker 2: Minnesota Vikings. I think I saw most mock drafts had
Speaker 2: him probably early second round, not the second Ohio State
Speaker 2: player off the board. And and then I will say
Speaker 2: I was surprised that Tyler Williams went in the first
Speaker 2: round because I think he has that talent. But again,
Speaker 2: a lot of the mock drafts I saw had him
Speaker 2: early second so not a huge huge climb, but you know,
Speaker 2: I think that is a recognition of him and obviously
Speaker 2: the importance of that position as well. And you see
Speaker 2: the opportunity, you go get your guy.
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, I'll Mika Buka went was the first Buck
Speaker 1: guy drafted nineteenth overall. I think he went to Tampa.
Speaker 1: How good is he compared to some of the other
Speaker 1: high end receivers Ohio State has had in the past, right.
Speaker 2: There in the mix, you know he had you know,
Speaker 2: he's one of the guys played one of the few
Speaker 2: guys that played four years at Ohio State and was
Speaker 2: kind of overshadowed. Also, that was a little bit of
Speaker 2: injury to his junior year. But you know he played
Speaker 2: with guys like Jackson Smith and Jigba Marvin Harrison junior,
Speaker 2: Jeremiah Smith, Carnel Tate, So you know, a tough room
Speaker 2: to be the guy in, especially as more of a
Speaker 2: flat receiver. But he has the same talent as those
Speaker 2: guys as the number one receiver in high school coming
Speaker 2: out five years ago, so same pedigree. And I think
Speaker 2: going to Tampa where they've got an established task game
Speaker 2: already means that he doesn't have to step in and
Speaker 2: you know, worry about a young quarterback or being the
Speaker 2: number one receiver with Mike Evans and Goodwin Godwin down there.
Speaker 2: So I think it's a good fit for him. He
Speaker 2: can come in, he can you fit in that slot
Speaker 2: role and then you know, kind of work his way
Speaker 2: into his career. Similar with Jackson Smith and Jigbak copingers
Speaker 2: going the Seattle where they again had some established guys already.
Speaker 1: Who will be the biggest surprise of the group. Do
Speaker 1: you think who will be better than people thought or
Speaker 1: where they were drafted? So for example, Traveon Henderson was
Speaker 1: the second round pick to New England. Will he play
Speaker 1: like a first round pick. Who's the guy you think
Speaker 1: will surprise a little bit?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there's probably a few guys. The one
Speaker 2: I will point to, and I apologize knowing the crowd
Speaker 2: that you are, the crowd of listeners you guys have.
Speaker 2: But Jack Sawyer, the defensive end who obviously had his
Speaker 2: issues with Michigan at the end of the game last year.
Speaker 2: But I think this is a guy who was high
Speaker 2: star prospect coming out of high school, I think the
Speaker 2: number two or three defensive end, and then his second
Speaker 2: year at Ohio State, they sort of moved him around,
Speaker 2: tried him in the hybrid side role that never really worked,
Speaker 2: and I think it's sort of set back his production
Speaker 2: a little bit. He didn't really pick that back up
Speaker 2: until part way through his junior year once he went
Speaker 2: fully back to the defensive end. So him going to
Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Steelers and the mid rounds there, I think
Speaker 2: it's a really good fit and I think his production,
Speaker 2: you know, we'll almost certainly out out last or make
Speaker 2: that pick look better than it was. You mentioned the
Speaker 2: running backs and Trayvon Henderson and uh quinch On Judkins
Speaker 2: go to the Cleveland Browns. Both of those guys I
Speaker 2: really like the fits. I think they can be productive
Speaker 2: there just trying to think of through all of those guys,
Speaker 2: I think there's there were a lot of good fits.
Speaker 2: We talked to Ryan Day yesterday and he said, well,
Speaker 2: he thought some guys could have gone earlier. He did
Speaker 2: like where guys landed in terms of their situation, and
Speaker 2: that was something I had said over the weekend when
Speaker 2: I talked to people about the draft. So I think
Speaker 2: it worked out well for for the Buckeyes in the draft,
Speaker 2: including Tyler Williams. I like, I really like this this
Speaker 2: selection with by Detroit, and you know, when you have
Speaker 2: this many guys, you never know how it's all going
Speaker 2: to work out. But I think it will probably look
Speaker 2: back we'll see, but as a pretty good draft, even
Speaker 2: if you take the numbers out of it.
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people thought Sawyer might even
Speaker 1: be a late first round pick, and then so dropping
Speaker 1: to fourth and getting pick Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh good culture
Speaker 1: and things of that nature. I'm sure it fits well
Speaker 1: with him. A great insight. We appreciate it very much.
Speaker 1: Thanks for the education on Tyler Williams. Sounds like the
Speaker 1: Lions got themselves a good one. But guys, of course,
Speaker 1: have a good one in you. Thanks for the time,
Speaker 1: have a great week
Speaker 2: Man all right, thanks guys,