Miyan Williams is at the NFL Scouting Combine but will not be participating in workouts because he is still recovering from the surgery that ended his final season at Ohio State early. He said the injury he needed surgery was osteochondritis dissecans, which had been becoming more of a problem over time for him.
He played in six games over the 2023 season, finishing with 158 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 49 attempts, adding four receptions for 42 yards through the air. It was 24 rushing attempts against Penn State which made him decide it was time to have surgery.
“I literally played until I couldn’t anymore,” Williams said. “My knee just kept locking up and I wasn’t able to run. I went to the doctor and he said, ‘Maybe it’s that time to get (surgery).’”
Even though Williams had two more years of eligibility as a college player, he said he felt like it was time to move on and try to make it as a professional despite the surgery ending his season.
“I just felt like I was finished with college,” he said. “I’ve been there four years. It was a great four years at Ohio State. I just felt like it was time.”
Williams made his decision to enter his name into the NFL draft in early December, before so many Buckeyes announced they would be returning – including running back TreVeyon Henderson – and before they added Quinshon Judkins in the transfer portal. But he did say transferring was never an option for him.
“Once I was there I was locked in with the university,” Williams said. “It was a great coaching staff, the strength coaching staff too with Coach (Mickey Marotti). I was locked in since day one from there.”
He hopes to be ready to go for training camp and said he is healing faster than the doctors expected him to and he hopes his name will get called in the draft. He is projected to be a late-round pick, if not an undrafted free agent currently.
But Williams is grateful for his time at Ohio State and said he believes it helped prepare him for the NFL because he’s already been treated like a professional during his time with the Buckeyes and was developed to be a pro.
“The structure at Ohio State is a professional structure,” he said. “It gets you prepared for a lot of professional programs. The system is the most professional I’ve ever been a part of.”
