Sonny Styles is a linebacker from Ohio State who is ranked No. 9 on my NFL Draft Top 100 Big Board. This comprehensive scouting report analyzes Styles’s draft potential, current mock draft trends, and where he ranks among the top prospects.
Sonny Styles’s NFL Draft Potential
Sonny Styles has at times been overshadowed by the emergence of Arvell Reese as a blue-chip prospect, but make no mistake: Styles is still a first-round LB prospect, and in fact, he’s my LB2 behind Reese, with a Top 15 grade. Styles and Reese are much different players who’ll play different roles in the NFL; despite his similar raw measurables at 6’4″, 243 pounds, Styles doesn’t have Reese’s raw power or strength. However, Styles is still a competent block engager, and he’s more refined and reliable in the traditional aspects of three-down LB play.
Styles is a fast processor and a rangy closer in run support, and his safety background grants him elite coverage depth feel and route relationship management skills. A well-rounded WILL LB with a particular affinity for coverage and space pursuit, Styles can be an instant starter and eventual impact NFL player.
One potential knock on Styles’ profile is that he isn’t as consistent as his teammate Arvell Reese when engaging, stacking, and shedding run blocks, particularly against climbing offensive linemen. But in 2025, Styles displayed visible growth with his targeted physicality, block take-on, and control at the contact point, and he stacked workmanlike performances in the final weeks of the season.
Against Penn State, Styles played a complete three-down game. In the run game, he brought great vision, patience, and willing physicality encumbering gaps and muddying rush looks. Meanwhile, in the passing game, his depth discipline showed up again over the middle of the field, and he used his long-strider range to erase flat threats and offensive check-downs on more than one occasion—notching a pass breakup with his length in one such instance.
In Week 11 against Purdue, Styles’ instincts as a former safety proved compromising in coverage, as he was able to effortlessly manage 2-on-1s in middle-field zones, manage depth, and use his length to disrupt when tested—which wasn’t often. Meanwhile, in run defense, he also displayed a willingness to dictate with physicality, stack blocks and encumber gaps, and muddy rush looks. And in Week 12, it was his range and willingness to work downhill through the scrum that shined.
It’s rare to see a former safety morph into such a complete three-down LB, but Styles has realized that potential in the best way, and is a likely first-round pick as a result. And it’s easy to forget, while he’s not the level of a role-diverse X-factor that Reese is, he’s still capable of providing value as a designed blitz threat; he had six sacks in 2024, using his burst, bend, and length to run the arc, splice through interior gaps, and run down passers. Styles has the makeup of an elite WILL linebacker, but he also wears the green dot for the Buckeyes’ defense, helps call out signals, and has equally exciting potential as a versatile MIKE and defensive commander.
Where Is Styles Being Selected Most Often in the PFSN Mock Draft Simulator?
Styles currently holds the No. 19 overall rank among prospects, placing him among the first-round caliber prospects. His most recent Average Draft Position (ADP) of 20.8 as of December 6 reflects that he is typically being selected in the first round.
This small gap between rank and ADP suggests he’s consistently valued among evaluators, even amid fluctuations in player evaluations at this stage of the draft cycle.
Users controlling the Dallas Cowboys have been the team that selected Styles the most frequently over the past week, accounting for 5.8% of their picks across all seven rounds. Notably, 17.0% of the Dallas Cowboys’ first-round selections over that same period were used on Styles, underscoring users’ strong preference for him as a potential immediate-impact linebacker.
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Where Does Sonny Styles Rank Amongst Other NFL Draft Prospects?
Styles is currently ranked No. 9 overall in my December 2026 NFL Draft Big Board. Among LB prospects, Styles ranks 2nd at the position, trailing Arvell Reese. With a top-10 ranking, Styles is considered one of the elite prospects in the 2026 class.
Want to see how we rank all the draft prospects in the PFSN Mock Draft Simulator? Check out our NFL Draft Prospect Rankings page, which includes more than 750 prospects.
