Ohio State’s defensive starting lineup is officially set.
The only opening in the defensive starting lineup was filled on Tuesday when Ryan Day announced Sonny Styles will be the Buckeyes’ first-team Will linebacker for the team’s season opener against Akron on Saturday.
“Sonny has separated himself for sure,” Day said Tuesday. “He will start at Will linebacker for us. He has done a nice job in this transition for us from safety.”
Styles beat out fellow junior C.J. Hicks in a preseason competition for the job.
After starting 12 games at safety last season, Styles had to earn his way back into this year’s starting lineup following an offseason position change. He did so by making a smooth transition to his new position, showing his coaches he’s ready to be a full-time linebacker for the Buckeyes despite spending his first two years at Ohio State in the secondary.
“Sonny has really stepped up and played well,” Day said last week. “He's made this transition from safety to linebacker very well. I think he did a nice job in the spring, but you can definitely see, as he went into the summer (that Sonny is) bigger, stronger, being more comfortable closer to the line of scrimmage.
“It's different when you're closer to the line of scrimmage. He's doing a better job getting his hands on offensive linemen and getting off of blocks. I think he understands the communication. The linebackers always have to be involved in the front, they've got to be involved and fit into the back end. He's doing that. I think he's looking forward to playing in a game and getting an idea of what it all looks like, but I can tell you in practice, he's playing fast, he's playing violent, and I think he does a nice job of taking the meeting to the field, being very intentional about his work, but playing really hard.”
Styles, who pairs the athleticism of a safety with prototypical linebacker size at 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, joins Cody Simon in the starting lineup at linebacker.
With Styles winning the job, all 11 starters on Ohio State’s defense enter the 2024 season with starting experience. Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau, Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton make up a veteran defensive line while Denzel Burke, Davison Igbinosun, Jordan Hancock, Lathan Ransom and Alabama transfer Caleb Downs all have at least a year of starting experience in the secondary.
Hicks, a five-star recruit in the 2022 class along with Styles, is still expected to have a role in this year’s defense even though he won’t be in the starting lineup. While Hicks has played only sparingly on defense as a backup linebacker for the past two years, Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has said he plans to use more three-linebacker packages this season to get all of Hicks, Styles and Simon on the field simultaneously.
“I feel like we can get all three of them in the game a significant amount,” Knowles said earlier this month.
Day said Tuesday that he also expects Arvell Reese and Gabe Powers to see playing time at linebacker against Akron.
