Sonny Styles
LB
Senior
Ht: 6-4| Wt: 243
Rank: 14
YEAR
TCK
TFL
SACK
INT
2025
58
6
1
1
2024
56
3
4
0
Sonny Styles Scouting Report
Sonny Style’s CV is clean — the former Ohio State safety turned high-end off-ball linebacker has chaired the best defense in the NCAA for two seasons. But if he were job hunting it would only be a shortage of production history that makes that resume thin, as the Buckeye LB combined for just 182 tackles, 17.0 TFL, and 7.0 sacks in his final two seasons combined.
Tape Scouting Report
Sonny Styles is at his very best in space. He has the backpedal of a safety. And he reads screens and route concepts early, carries backs/TEs well, closes fast and tackles in the open field. Above all he is a form tackler, deft at breaking down in space at the right contain angles. He is still cleaner playing off leverage than taking on interior traffic, and his gap discipline/pass-rush mechanics remain more developing than finished. For all of his copious athletic abilities and his demonstrable understanding of the game, he has not produced impact plays yet at a rate you’d suspect. And he remains a scrape, cover, and fill type player, at least on tape.
Athletic Scouting Report
Outstanding triangular build for the position with unique three dimensional explosive attributes. Combine numbers were elite for an LB: 4.46 forty, 43.5-inch vertical and 134-inch broad jump, plus long-limbed range that shows up sideline to sideline. The only minor drawback is that the strength he obviously possesses doesn’t always translate in stacked, or OL take on, situations to the kind of shed and explode film you would like to see.
Draft Stock Report
Sonny Styles is a clear, first round talent no matter how you slice it. The only disagreement is whether he is truly a top 5 type player, or is closer to a top-20 type talent who as yet doesn’t equal the sum of his parts. But coming out of Columbus, with his size/speed/coverage profile will no doubt push him into the top tier of the 2026 class, whether he is finally a top five player whether he is ranked Red Chip or even lower, where he lived before the draft community saw the 5-star athlete in shorts.
Athletics
Play Diagnosis
Rush & Fit Tech
Coverage