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2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Sonny Styles

There are physical specimens on defense, and then there are guys like Sonny Styles. Initially recruited to Ohio State to play safety, the now second generation linebacker (his father Lorenzo Styles Sr., played both at Ohio State, and with the Rams, winning a Super Bowl in 1999), has cemented himself as one of the 2026 NFL Drafts' most coveted prizes thanks to a first team All-American campaign in 2025, and one of the single greatest combine performances we've ever seen last month in Indianapolis.


No matter what positional label you want to use on him, you don't find off-ball defenders who are legit 6'5", 244 lbs., and with the kind of athletic and physical traits that Styles brings to the table. So much so that it feels like a forgone conclusion he'll be the first real off-ball linebacker to get drafted top-10 since the Steelers selected Devin Bush back in 2019 (or the Cardinals a year later with Isaiah Simmons, depending on how you viewed him coming out of Clemson, but semantics). Here's our report on the big man who manned the middle for the Buckeyes.


Player Bio

Name: Sonny Styles

Jersey: No. 0 (No. 6 prior to 2025)

Position: Linebacker (was recruited as a safety)

School: Ohio State

Class: Senior

Height: 6'5" 

Weight: 244 lbs.

Games Watched: vs. Penn State and Texas (Cotton Bowl) (2024), vs. Texas, Wisconsin, and Michigan (2025)


Major Injury History: N/A



Player Breakdown

Instincts (14.5/15)

Styles instincts are largely fantastic, and it shows in his read/react ability, his chops as a zone coverage defender, and in his ability to communicate things in a relatively calm, and preicise manner, and saw a good bit of that last part with the big boys upfront.


My only knockbacks would be that there were a few plays where he ended up hesitating or reading things wrong that led to some nice plays offensively; a misread on a read option vs. Drew Allar and Penn State in 2024, and then a hesitation out in space covering a wheel route in that year's Cotton Bowl vs. Texas jump out as a couple of examples. Definitely some validity to the idea that he can be a tad susceptible to eye candy as well. Additionally, I thought there were some times Styles could've been a bit less conscious about protecting the edge on some runs where he could've shed inside to make some plays, but I don't know how much I can fault him for being fundamentally sound in that area. Still, this score tells the story; the good far outweighs the bad here, and these are only a small handful of plays.


Tackling (14/15)

Styles' 19 missed tackles in 2024 were alarming; he cut that number to two in 2025, with only six in the 2023 campaign. His 88 total tackles in 2025 (per PFF) were a career high, and his wrap-up ability and technique clearly improved. Keep the 2024 numbers in mind, but otherwise I wouldn't be overly concerned. He deserves credit for the drastic improvement he made last season.


Block Shedding (9/10)

You'd want the ability to get off blocks to be just a tad more consistent, but I don't think this was as bad as some have made it out to be. Styles has plenty of reps on tape where he deconstructed his way through blocks, and you also saw some good stack-and-shed ability in the run game. He has an 80-plus-inch wingspan to help out on the leverage front, engaging blocks/blockers.


Run Defense (9.5/10)

You won't find many linebackers as sound fundamentally in run defense and gap integrity as Styles. While there are some cases of him being a bit too sound when there were some plays to be made, you consistently saw a guy who has the ability to blow up run plays either by shooting gaps, collapsing them in support from the second level, and showed the ability to win vs. blockers to make some plays beyond the line. Some variation of "nice run stop" came up a lot in my film notes, and some of these run stops were from about a mile out. His "ranginess" isn't just about his pass coverage.


Pursuit (9.5/10)

Some of the plays Sonny Styles can make from depth/distance were spectacular and I got a good example of that early against Penn State in 2024. Watch how quickly he gets this run stop on a toss while lined up from the opposite hash.

When he's able to read and react properly, a guy this size with the ability to move like Styles does is hyper dangerous, and there's a number of plays like this. This wasn't one of the film watches, but check this out from Ohio State vs. Indiana back in 2023.


Pass Rush Ability (9.25/10)

Styles' pass-rush ability was a pleasant surprise. He has nine sacks over the last three seasons, with six coming in 2024. On tape, he made a strip sack and drew a holding penalty off an RB chip that would have been a sack otherwise. He shows the ability to generate pressure both on and off the line. I did not get a chance to clip this, but there's a play against Wisconsin in 2025 where Styles, lined up at MLB, forklifts the center about seven yards back, nearly into the QB, and forces a long incompletion. There should be some oppurtunities for him to get down on the line to rush the passer in the future if you ask me.


Man Defense (8.25/10)

Styles has the athletic and coverage range to be a thorn in the side of backs and tight ends in the passing game in man, and there were a handful of examples of him carrying those guys vertically, especially so in the flat/short game. That one touchdown allowed vs. Texas in the Cotton Bowl certainly hurts here, and his ability to decipher play action consistently could certainly get him into some trouble, but I'm confident that'll fix itself down the line. Would also note here that Styles was ultimately good, not great, in the 3-Cone and 20-yard shuttle drills at the combine. Something to keep in mind regarding his fluidity, which absolutely connects here.


Zone Defense (9.25/10)

Styles in zone, as you could imagine, is where he really shines as a coverage defender. You're talking about a guy who does a great job reading and reacting to what's around him while locking in on where the QB is looking, who has great feel when to pull the trigger downhill to make hits, and knowing when to bail out. There's certainly a learning curve from safety to linebacker, but seeing where he's at is impressive, and he's still improving.


Ball Skills (3.75/5)

Styles' career ball production isn't going to wow you by any means with just one career interception to his name, but he also has nine career pass breakups, and for whatever it's worth, he came pretty close to a second career pick in the 2025 opener vs. Texas on a diving attempt at that. The numbers are what they are, but I think he's capable of being more productive around the ball, assuming teams test him in coverage more at the next level, given his athletic tools and ability.


Versatility (5/5)

Styles can and has a track record of lining up just about everywhere defensively for the Buckeyes, which shouldn't come as a major surprise given what we know. His snap count as a slot defender (per PFF) got cut by over half, from '24 to '25, from 163 to 65, but Styles has logged 132 snaps in each of the last two seasons as an on ball defender, with reps on pass and run downs, eight in each of the last two seasons at corner (we saw one in his last snap vs. Michigan where he was playing the flat in what looked like a Tampa-2. Needless to say, I don't think you'll be seeing much of that anymore.), while still logging just shy of 1050 snaps in the box since 2024. He's a freak in every sense of the word.


Styles also recently joined Kay Adams and expressed some interest in playing in a Kyle Hamilton/Derwin James role, which, given his size and skill set, I'd have to imagine is a realistic possibility.


Player Summary

Yeah, man, Sonny Styles is really good. I don't know what else to tell you. I think comparing him outright to Fred Warner would be a bit tough on him, even though the two share a similar path in college, being safety converts, but Styles, regardless of whether he's just a pure linebacker, or gets some run as one of these Super Human Big Nickels, has a ton of real upside as an NFL defender. The learning curve at linebacker is certainly steep once you get into the NFL, but we've seen some guys become immediate impact players at that position, as recently as last year with DROY Carson Schwesinger of the Cleveland Browns. It would be tough to rule out that kind of season for Styles, especially if he ends up in a defense that can put him in situations to be successful early, while still fixing up some of his trouble spots.


Styles' pick range begins the second the Raiders select Fernando Mendoza, and if he ends up falling to the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 9, may god have mercy on the souls of the eight GMs who passed on him. I don't believe this will be changing this close to the draft, but he's officially my No. 2 player behind only his teammate Caleb Downs.


Rookie Projections: DROY Contender

Third-Year Projections: All-Pro Caliber Linebacker

Final Grade (92/100): Top 10 Talent



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