COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A few days before leaving Columbus for his last college game, Sonny Styles searched his phone for a text message from 2024.
"I'm so happy for you man," James Laurinaitis told him then. "You're going to be a first-round linebacker here. I'm telling you, right now."
Laurinaitis was an All-American linebacker at Ohio State who won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation's top defender in 2006. In 2024, he was promoted from graduate assistant to linebackers coach of the Buckeyes. He couldn't contain his excitement about Styles, a 6-foot-4 safety, moving full-time to linebacker.
The Ohio native was the type of athletic freak who was so versatile that Laurinaitis used to get in battles with Ohio State secondary coach Tim Walton about which position would get Styles on any given Saturday.
Why was Laurinaitis so confident in Styles making a smooth transition?
"You see the size," Laurinaitis said this week. "I'm like, 'Man, if we just put some weight on Sonny, you have a linebacker with elite cover skills.' The big question was, could he come down and thump?"
In two years, Styles proved Laurinaitis right in more ways than one.
Styles is the No. 4 NFL Draft prospect in Dane Brugler's rankings for The Athletic. Styles and Arvell Reese are expected to be the first Ohio State linebackers drafted in the first round in 10 years. In fact, both are expected to be picked in the top 10 on Thursday night, if not the top five.
One of the reasons Styles has become such a highly coveted NFL Draft prospect is his tackling ability. He missed just two tackles in 647 snaps last season, according to PFF, improving from 19 missed tackles in 2024.
He went from a player who was using his athleticism to get around blocks to a player who was embracing the contact and then throwing the blocker to the side to make plays. It's one of the biggest places of growth for the 21-year-old Styles, who ran the fastest 40-yard dash among linebackers at the NFL combine at 4.46 seconds.
"He trusted his athleticism more (in 2024), where now it's like he has both tools," Laurinaitis said.
The physicality is actually his favorite part of the position now.
"You're constantly hitting someone every single play," Styles said. "I constantly get the chance to be around the ball every single play, so I love that part of it."
His journey to being a standout linebacker wasn't always obvious. There was a time when what position suited him best was unknown. The consistency Styles brought to the field was one thing that never wavered. And it helped him along his journey from the 17-year-old who skipped his senior year of high school to a probable top-10 pick Thursday
"Sonny does everything right," Reese said.
Styles was a five-star recruit when he stepped onto campus in 2022. He was the top-ranked safety, even after reclassifying, and he was also a talented basketball player at Pickerington Central High School.
Because of his dual-sport ability, he kept a relatively lean frame to pair with his 6-foot-4 height. He was listed at 214 pounds in high school and 220 by the time he took the field as an Ohio State freshman.
A lot of the excitement around Styles centered around the idea that because he was so young, he could add weight to his frame without sacrificing his athleticism and instincts.
"We never knew how big he was going to actually get," said his father, Lorenzo Styles Sr. "I told him, eventually, you will move closer to the ball. I'm not sure if you don't put your hand on the line of scrimmage before it's all said and done. But he was able to navigate that transition."
Styles checked in at the NFL combine at 6-5 and 244 pounds. His 43.5-inch vertical jump was the highest among linebackers and his 11-foot-2 broad jump was fourth.
"I wasn't, like, surprised," Styles Sr. said. "I'm glad it all came together."
What the combine numbers don't show are his instincts and football IQ.
"In high school and earlier years our football conversations would be basic to me, but as he got to Ohio State and understanding the scheme and the game more, the conversations matured," said Styles Sr., a third-round draft pick out of Ohio State in 1995 who won a Super Bowl with the Rams. "It was great to hear the progression and progress he made."
One of the toughest adjustments for Styles was how much faster the game moved at linebacker, as opposed to being a safety who played near the box. Styles has the speed to play linebacker, but he had to get his mind and feet moving quicker.
The first thing he did when he made the switch to linebacker was get on the field at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and work on his footwork.
"He just always wanted to do footwork, he wanted to study and he wanted to learn," Laurinaitis said. "
And he has never stopped.
Styles was a starting linebacker in Ohio State's 4-2-5 defensive scheme from the jump after his position change, and in two years his confidence grew with each game.
Reese was a sophomore when Styles switched positions. Despite his inexperience at the position, Styles was somebody Reese gravitated to right away.
"Sonny, the way he prepared for games, the way he would be in the weight room -- I feel like Sonny is one of those guys that you could always count on," Reese said. "He got in the room; he was ready to learn; he was ready to work.
It became his spot, in a matter of weeks."
Behind the scenes, Styles became one of the faces of the Ohio State program, earning the Block O jersey, a tradition that rewards a leader with the No. 0 jersey, as a senior.
He was the second-leading tackler for a national championship team in 2024, and he was again in 2025. Though Ohio State lost to Miami in the CFP quarterfinals last season, he checked off one more goal of his by earning a tree in Buckeye Grove.
Buckeye Grove is a tradition that rewards each Ohio State player who has been named a first-team All-American with a tree. It's an honor Styles always wanted, as it was common for Laurinaitis to walk into the linebacker room after going for a run with a few nuts from his own tree to give to his daughters.
"I was like, 'Man, that's awesome. Like, I want that.'" Styles said.
It wasn't by accident that Laurinaitis, the same person who texted Styles that he would be a first-round pick, was the one to tell Styles he would get a tree of his own.
"I was like, 'Please, can I tell him?'" Laurinaitis said. "Knowing what it meant to him and then really to have two guys have trees in the same year, which I believe is the first time that's happened, I mean, it's a testament to their hard work and their dedication."
Styles called his father, and the two shared an excited moment before Styles Sr. gave him some more advice.
"He was happy for me, but then was like, 'The job's not finished, dog,'" Styles said.