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Twitter: @sonnystyles_
Instagram: @sonnystyles_
Ohio State Overview
• Sonny is a talented and terrific athlete and player who was one of the very best players in America in 2025
• Only 21 years old (November) but Sonny led this program as he played in 55 games started 41 times and was named a team co-captain as a senior
• Recipient of the team's Block "O" Award and No. 0 jersey for toughness, accountability and the highest of character, inspired by the great Bill Willis
• Earned first-team All-America honors as a senior after leading the team in tackles with 82 and in solo tackles with 46
• Also had 6.5 tackles-for-losses totalling 17 yards, an interception, three pass break-ups and four quarterback hurries
• Named first-team all-Big Ten Conference on both the coaches and media votes
• Set a personal best with 12 tackles vs. Indiana in the Big Ten title game
• Finished with 244 career tackles, including 21.5 TFLs, 9.0 QB sacks and nine pass break-ups
• Played safety his first two seasons, including 12 starts in 2023, and switched to linebacker in the spring of 2024
• Played 1,008 snaps in 2024, including 906 snaps on defense (second to Caleb Downs' 922)
• Was named second-team all-Big Ten Conference as a junior (coaches' ballot) in 2024 after starting all 16 games at linebacker and finishing second on the team in tackles with 100
• His tackle total included 48 solo stops and 10.5 tackles for losses totaling 59 yards with six of those TFLs quarterback sacks
• Also had five pass break-ups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in 2024
• Was second on the team in tackles throughout Ohio State's College Football Playoff national championship run with 24 tackles in the four games
• Also had four tackles-for-loss, two sacks, two pass break-ups and a forced fumble in the playoffs
• Escorted Jack Sawyer into the end zone on his 83-yard, game-deciding scoop-and-score vs. Texas by strategically placing himself between Jack and the Longhorns in pursuit
• Established then-career-high of nine tackles in three of the team's biggest games last year: vs. Oregon (regular season), Penn State and Texas in the CFP semifinals at the Cotton Bowl
• In 2023 he ranked fifth on the team with 53 tackles and ranked fourth with 32 solo tackles
• He played in 12 games in 2022, and most of them as a 17-year-old true freshman. and totalled nine tackles on the season and one tackle-for-loss
• Has earned multiple OSU Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-Big Ten honors and has graduated with his degree in sport industry
• Ohio State's male nominee in Spring 2025 for the Big Ten Jackie Robinson Community & Impact Award for striving to have a positive impact in sports and within the community
Honors and Awards
2025: First-team All-American (The Sporting News), team co-captain, Block "O" Award recipient, first-team All-Big Ten Conference, Academic All-Big Ten
2024: Second-team all-Big Ten Conference (coaches poll), Academic all-Big Ten, OSU Scholar Athlete
2023: Honorable mention all-Big Ten, Academic all-Big Ten, OSU Scholar Athlete
2022: OSU Scholar Athlete
More on Sonny
• Sonny was a part of the 2022 Ohio State recruiting class
• He enrolled in classes in June 2022 with 10 additional members of his class
• Reclassified and graduated from Pickerington Central after his junior season
• Was ranked as the No. 3 player in the state of Ohio and No. 29 player nationally in 2021
• Had 55 total tackles in 11 games in 2021
• Added two interceptions, two passes defended a block punt and one forced fumble
• Had a team-best four interceptions as a sophomore and 33 tackles in just seven games
• Is the son of Lorenzo Styles Sr., who played for the Buckeyes in 1992-94 before a six-year NFL career with Atlanta and St. Louis that included a Super Bowl XXXIV championship with the Rams
• His mother is Laverna Styles, also an Ohio State graduate
• Older brother, Lorenzo Styles Jr., transferred to Ohio State from Notre Dame this year and also plays on the football team
• Has two sisters: Sydney, and Tonia Brown
2022-23 Football Roster
Jersey Number 6
Sonny Styles
- Height:
- 6-4
- Weight:
- 222
- Hometown:
- Pickerington, Ohio
- Last School:
- Pickerington Central
- Year:
- Fifth Year
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