Tag: Sonny Styles

Chiefs scouting report: Ohio State Buckeyes LB Sonny Styles

The Kansas City #Chiefs should consider selecting Ohio State #Buckeyes linebacker Sonny Styles in the 2025 NFL draft.

The Kansas City Chiefs need linebacker help. The positions group struggled through several games this season and loses some of its top contributors to free agency in the next two years. The 2025 NFL draft doesn’t feature many quality linebackers, but some prospects offer developmental upside.

Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Sonny Styles needs another year to develop, which makes him the ideal draft and stash candidate for the Chiefs. Styles transitioned from safety to linebacker for the 2024 season. His block deconstruction skills and run fits lack consistency, but his raw athletic traits hint at significant long-term upside.

Styles, who turns 20 years old this month, plays with terrific closing speed. He’s an explosive athlete with the burst to fire through gaps and light up ball carriers. Styles turns into a human missile working downhill in the run game and uses his agility and bend to dip around blockers on his way to the ball.

Styles arrives with force. The pop he delivers on contact knocks running backs off their feet. The force of his hits jars the ball loose when he contacts tight ends at the catch point.

Styles needs to develop a better feel for coverages at his new position. He gains good depth in zone drops but suffers from lapses in man coverage against tight ends and running backs.

Ohio State welcomes Purdue to Columbus on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 11 a.m. CST. Only one ranked team remains on Ohio State’s schedule before the Big Ten Championship Game.

Two Ohio State players appear on Butkus Award watch list

Another day, another couple of Buckeyes on a preseason watch list. #GoBucks

We continue to scan the college football universe for the plethora of preseason watch lists and the latest comes in the form of the Butkus Award.

Named after the late, great, NFL and College Football Hall-of-Famer, Dick Butkus, the award goes out to college football’s best linebacker annually. On Tuesday, the award released its preseason watch list and two Ohio State linebackers landed among the fray.

C.J. Hicks and Sonny Styles were two of the 51 names appearing in the announcement. Both appear to be in a close competition for the starting Will Linebacker spot with the Buckeyes, but there’s no doubt you’ll see both on the field a lot because of their playmaking ability.

USA TODAY SMG

Both players were five-star prospects in the 2022 recruiting class, and both are expected to bust out potentially in 2024. Styles appears to have a slight lead on the position because he took most of the first-team reps so far in preseason camp, but the coaches insist things are near kneck-and kneck.

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Watch: Ohio State’s Sonny Styles talks about position change from safety to linebacker

Big things are expected from the new Buckeyes linebacker. #GoBucks

In a move that many have been asking for, Ohio State football finally made the change for [autotag]Sonny Styles[/autotag] this spring, from safety to linebacker.

At 6-foot, 4-inches and 235-pounds, the son of former Buckeye linebacker, Lorenzo Styles, physically fits the mold of a linebacker. The need for him to play the position wasn’t paramount his first two seasons, but as Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers are moving onto the professional ranks, it made sense.

Styles got a chance to speak with the media on Thursday about the change, and his comments were telling. “I love it, I love competing with the linebackers,” was how he started off his answer.

In the weight room, he was spot on, he was expected to beat all of them considering his size compared to theirs. The competition aspect is huge, and now Styles has that in his new room. Expectations have changed as well, as he should see the field often in his new position.

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Which Ohio State football players earned their Buckeye leaves against Penn State?

Which Buckeyes earned their helmet decals against Penn State?

For 60 minutes on Saturday, Ohio State football was in a battle with visiting Penn State, and earned a gritty, hard fought 20-12 victory in front of a raucous home crowd.

With another win in the book, the Buckeyes seventh of the season, you will see plenty more Buckeye leaf decals on players helmets next week as they visit Wisconsin. (We’re getting to the point of the year where some players are almost full!)

Some of those players get them for team achievements, but these players highlighted below earned them for their individual play in our own personal grading scale. Check out who we thought played the best football for Ohio State on Saturday and deserves new helmet decals.

Ten Ohio State football players who earned their Buckeye leaves against Maryland

Which Buckeyes stood out to you today? #GoBucks

[autotag]Ohio State football[/autotag] shook off their first half bland play to surge ahead of [autotag]Maryland[/autotag] in the second half, to earn a 37-17 win in front of a home crowd.

While the score looks good, there were still aspects of the game that have left much more to be desired. With that said, there was still plenty of good to come out of this win. That does happen when you still come out victorious, while not playing your best.

We will see more Buckeye decals on Ohio State players helmet’s next week against [autotag]Purdue[/autotag] and here are ten players that earned their’s for their play against Maryland.

Two Ohio State football players named to Bruce Feldman’s college football freaks list

Ohio State football had two players named to Bruce Feldman’s college football ‘freaks list.’ You can probably guess one of them.

Every year Bruce Feldman of the Athletic (subscription required) puts out a list highlighting the best athletes in college football headed into the season.  It is always very interesting to look at because it includes star players, as well as players with a lot of potential yet to emerge as household names.

Feldman recently released his full freaks list for this season which had 25 players total named, including two Ohio State players.

The first Buckeye to make the list is Marvin Harrison Jr. at No. 2 on the list.  Harrison Jr. is an obvious choice for this list because he is a very unique talent.  His speed, explosiveness and ability to change directions at his size is at a higher level than any receiver in recent memory in college football.

The other Buckeye to make the list is Sonny Styles who was checked in at No. 20 on the Freaks list.  Though Styles is just 18 years old and doesn’t turn 19 until November, he is already set to play a big role on Ohio State’s defense this fall.

Styles was a five-star recruit and a top 20 player in the 2022 class.  His size at 6-foot-4, 230 pounds, combined with his movement skills make him perfectly suited to excel in both run defense and coverage in a hybrid linebacker safety role.

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Five Ohio State defenders poised for a breakout 2023 season

Who makes the leap for the Buckeye defense this year? #GoBucks

After looking at which [autotag]Ohio State football[/autotag] offensive players are primed for a breakout, it is time to give the other side of the ball the same treatment.

There are questions on this side of the ball for the Buckeyes, but they still return major contributors like defensive end J.T. Tuimoloua, and linebackers Tommy Eichenberg and [autotag]Steele Chambers[/autotag].

Defensive coordinator [autotag]Jim Knowles[/autotag] is entering his second year at the position and there should be a jump in production from players for multiple reasons, such as experience in the system. Find out which five players I believe are going to explode on the scene in 2023.

247Sports thinks this former 5-star Ohio State player is ‘on the verge of a breakout’

The breakout train is departing from the station, get on #GoBucks

Anytime you are given the five-star moniker, there are high expectations. They are even higher when you arrive on a campus such as [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag]’s.

Rising sophomore [autotag]Sonny Styles[/autotag] had that designation when he signed with the Buckeyes. On the outside, it appears he didn’t live up to it after registering just 9 tackles and 1 tackle-for-loss during his true freshman season.

That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Styles impressed late in the year and played a significant amount against Georgia in the [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag] semifinal. 247Sports Robbie Weinstein is high on his progress as well. Styles was named one of the former five-stars on schedule.

As the tweet and Weinstein writes, Styles graduated early, reclassified and enrolled early to Ohio State. He should have been a senior in high school last year, but he was out on the field for the Buckeyes.

Weinstein noted his “impressive agility for his size, Styles can play all over the field and isn’t necessarily a true safety. That versatility should help Styles earn more snaps in 2023, regardless of whether he starts. Stock up here, Styles could be on the verge of a breakout season in Columbus.”

It hard to disagree with that sentiment. Many, including me, expect Styles to become a household name this fall.

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Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on Twitter.

The five top-rated Ohio State safety recruits since 2000

The five top-rated Ohio State safety recruits since 2000 #GoBucks

We have been diving into some of the more highly touted recruits in Ohio State history. We recently discussed the quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, offensive tackles, guards, center, defensive ends, defensive tackles, inside linebackers, outside linebackers, and cornerbacks We wanted to look into the history of recruiting safeties.

Some exciting names are on this list. Even though 247Sports‘ recruiting rankings only go back to 2000, there are some memorable names. It is always fun to reflect on how some of these guys performed and whether they lived up to expectations.

This list only confirms the insane wealth of talent Ohio State has had at the safety position. Some of the guys that just missed the cut are Erick Smith, a prized recruit from Glenville, Dustin Fox, who started all four years, and Josh Proctor, who is coming back for his last season in 2023.

College football: Former Notre Dame starter transfers to Ohio State

He’ll be reuniting with his brother there, too.

When Notre Dame hosts Ohio State in late September the connections between the two programs will run deep. [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] obviously wore scarlet and gray in college and now heads the Fighting Irish football program.  Meanwhile [autotag]James Laurinaitis[/autotag] recently went from being a graduate assistant at Notre Dame to the same post under Ryan Day at Ohio State.

Add another to the mix as former Notre Dame wide receiver [autotag]Lorenzo Styles[/autotag], Jr. has announced his next home – none other than Ohio State.  Styles entered the transfer portal the day before Notre Dame’s spring game and announced his decision this weekend.  At Ohio State he’ll be teammates with his younger brother [autotag]Sonny Styles[/autotag] who plays in the Buckeyes secondary.

Styles, Lorenzo that is, is one of 14 players from Notre Dame’s 2021 recruiting class that is no longer with the program.  He has stated he wants to make the transition to defensive back which will probably be a good idea if he wants to see much of the field as nobody has recruited and developed the receiver position better than Ohio State in recent years.

Notre Dame is set to host Ohio State on Sept. 23.

See some of the best photos of Styles during his time at Notre Dame below.

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