When former Ohio State linebacker Lorenzo Styles reflects on his six-year NFL career, he knew versatility was vital to any career longevity.
Drafted in the third round of the 1995 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons, Styles eventually played outside linebacker and contributed on special teams for the Falcons for two seasons and the St. Louis Rams for four. Styles eventually moved into coaching and preached to any player the importance of utilizing multiple skills. He passed on the same lesson to his son, Sonny Styles, who eventually would become a five-star recruit and a 2022 Ohio State safety/linebacker signee.
“My NFL career, I know that old cliche, the more you can do,” Lorenzo said on Wednesday at Sonny’s signing day ceremony at Pickerington Central. “So I gave him that identity of the more you can do, the more valuable you are to a football team. You want to be able to have multiple tools in your toolbox to be able to go out and perform.”
Sonny, who officially reclassified from 2023 to 2022 last month, did it all for Pickerington Central during his high school career. While he primarily lined up as a traditional safety, Styles also played in the box as a linebacker to help stuff the run, lined up on the edge to rush the passer and played man coverage against a receiver when opposing offenses lined up in four-wide sets.
Pen to Paper. #GOBUCKS pic.twitter.com/eY0ht5tLG1
— Alex Sonny Styles (@sonnystyles_) December 16, 2021
During his youth football days, Lorenzo had the now 6-foot-4, 215-pound Sonny play defensive end.
“To be honest, I didn’t know what his body type was going to be when he was coming up,” Lorenzo said. “I basically trained him as a defensive end starting off, then we moved him to an outside linebacker. Then we moved to a flat-up safety, and when we got to high school it fit with the defense needed to put him at free safety. There’s still things he has to learn there, and I’m going to be a coach now, but his angles sometimes are bad sometimes and where he’s supposed to fit at in the run coming from 10 deep and stuff like that. But we’ve prepared him since he was little (to be versatile).”
Sonny’s versatility is one of the primary reasons he was a highly billed recruit in his class, and one of the main attributes the Buckeyes coveted. In the defensive scheme Ohio State used this past season, Styles profiles as the perfect bullet, essentially a safety-linebacker hybrid. Of course, OSU has a new defensive coordinator now in Jim Knowles. While Ryan Day is adamant the scheme won’t change too much, as Knowles’ 4-2-5 defense at Oklahoma State is similar to OSU’s from a personnel standpoint, it’s unclear what specific changes might be implemented that could have an impact on how Styles is utilized down the road.
One thing that hasn’t changed: Day doesn’t expect Styles to be married to a single position.
“Everywhere,” Day said when asked where Sonny will be used on OSU’s defense. “We’re going to use him everywhere we can. He can do a lot of things. He can cover, he can blitz, he can play zone, he can play man, he’s like a Swiss Army knife out there. I know our guys on defense are going to be excited to have him in different roles as he builds.”
That plan works for Sonny.
“I think that sounds amazing,” Styles said of Day’s comments. “It gives me a chance to show off my versatility and the things I can do. I think my dad has always made me that kind of player since I was younger. I think I started off playing defensive end and linebacker, as I got older, I started playing safety. So, I think he’s built that up for me.”
Styles told Eleven Warriors on Wednesday he had not been contacted by Knowles to that point, though Styles Sr. said OSU did discuss the hiring with the family. Both of them are on board with the hire.
“I think he did a great job at Oklahoma State,” Sonny said. “I’m looking forward to being coached by him and learning a lot from him.”
While Lorenzo had to “warm up” initially to the idea of his son reclassifying, he’s optimistic about the development his son can receive as a player next fall.
“I like it, because he’s going in right now sized as a safety at 215, and hopefully they’re able to allow him to develop of all three levels on the defense,” Lorenzo said. “Hopefully he keeps his weight to a safety type of weight so that way they can make that adjustment in how they want to play him and what the new defensive coordinator’s system allows him to do.”
Considering he will only be 17 when he steps foot on Ohio State’s campus in June for workouts, it’s unclear how much of a role if any Styles will play in the 2022 season. But he plans to be ready for whatever is thrown his way.
“I think I’m going into this with the right mindset,” Styles said. “I think it’s not really the age, it’s more of your mental aspect of it and how mature you are with it. I think my mom and dad raised me that way. I’ll be prepared.”
