Why Sonny Styles’ NFL Draft decision is so important to Ohio State football

The tandem became the most productive in school history both surpassing 100 tackles with Styles recording 100 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, six sacks and five pass breakups in Year 1 as a linebacker. Now he returns for Year 2 and Year 4 in the program to help Laurinaitis lead a room with plenty of upside.

The room isn’t as inexperienced as it was this time last year thanks to Arvell Reese emerging as a potential future star. He’s expected to replace Simon as the starting mike linebacker. But then things get interesting.

C.J. Hicks could be on the verge of changing positions as there’s a chance that OSU’s defense looks drastically different from a scheme standpoint with so many defensive linemen graduating. Payton Pierce and Garrett Stover head into Year 2 expecting to make a jump, especially Pierce as he goes through his first spring after spending last year recovering from an injury suffered in high school.

But the real intrigue starts with Laurinaitis’ first recruiting class bringing in three highly-rated players in TJ Alford, Eli Lee and Riley Pettijohn. Alford and Pettijohn are top 100 recruits who could push for early playing time while Lee has already drawn comparisons to former captain Tommy Eichenberg. The trio will be joined by former Duquesne linebacker Ty Howard as newcomers.

The future is bright at linebacker under Laurinaitis. But Styles’ return to spend a second year at the position provide the position with some stability for a side of the ball entering the spring with more questions than answers. Styles provides the coaching staff with another player that has experience while also optimistic that the best version of him still needs to be tapped into.

Styles could’ve gone pro after this season. He’s played 1,509 snaps over the past two seasons while learning two different positions. He also has some athletic traits that make him an intriguing prospect.

He’s also a year ahead in his development given he’s supposed to be a sophomore because he showed up a year early. There was never any reason for him to rush off to the NFL because of that. Plus it helps that his older brother — Lorenzo Styles Jr. — returns a potentially the starting nickel corner in 2025.

His return could be a win-win. Ohio State gets back a linebacker it can trust, capable of leading a young room that has a ton of upside. Styles gets to keep developing at a positon he’s only been at for 12 months. The payoff could be significant for both sides this time next year.