At the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine, there were several former Buckeyes who turned heads, but the biggest story of the weekend was the respective performances of the Styles brothers.
Sonny Styles, who was a team captain, the team’s “Block O” recipient, and a multiyear starter at linebacker, was the first to put his athletic prowess on display. Sonny Styles left scouts in awe with a vertical leap of 43.5 inches, a broad jump of 11-foot-2 inches, and a 40-yard dash time of 4.46 seconds.
Styles’ vertical leap was the second-highest in NFL combine history for a linebacker, trailing only Cameron Wake’s 45.5-inch vertical leap recorded in 2003.
At Ohio State’s Pro Day on Wednesday, the former standout at linebacker downplayed his performance at the combine.
“I had high expectations for myself,” Styles said of his testing at the combine. “I think what you put on the film and then the person you are in the meeting room, that’s what’s more important. And I thought (what I did in the) meetings and my film was a lot better than the testing was.”
Styles’ test numbers have him well-positioned to be selected in the top-10 of the NFL Draft, but he feels those numbers only confirmed what he displayed on film.
“I think I’m a pretty smart football player, so I was more proud of my interviews than my testing,” Styles said. “I’m more proud of my film than my testing. I think the testing was just confirmation.”
Shortly after Sonny Styles proved he was one of the best athletes in the 2026 class, his brother Lorenzo Styles Jr., recorded a 40-yard dash time of 4.27 seconds, the fastest time of any defensive player at the combine.
Sonny said he was more excited for his brother’s 40-yard dash time than any of his own accomplishments.
“I was super excited when he ran that fast,” Sonny Styles said. “That was ridiculous, especially because I think he weighed almost 200 pounds. That’s rolling. So I was just super excited for him.”
Prior to the Combine, Lorenzo Styles Jr. wasn’t necessarily known nationally for his speed. Styles said he even surprised himself with his 40-yard dash time.
“’It was by far the best I had in training,” Styles said. “I had like a progress test four weeks out. I ran like a 4.4. So I was like, ‘Alright, we’re going to see,’ so I expected like a low 4.3 because they say you run (.1 seconds) faster. So when I ran that, I don’t know, my feet were just on fire, I guess.”
When asked where, he and his brother’s athleticism came from, Lorenzo Styles Jr. credited his parents, including his father, former Ohio State linebacker Lorenzo Styles Sr.
“My dad, he had good genes,” Lorenzo Styles Jr. said. “My mom, I’ll give her a little bit of credit, too. Her genes must be alright too, but yeah, we’ve been training since we were five or six years old, so all that training paid off.”
Sonny Styles said he planned to attend the NFL Draft if he is invited. Lorenzo said he plans to attend the draft on the first night to watch his brother be selected. Lorenzo Styles Jr. isn’t projected to be selected nearly as early in the draft as his brother, so he will return to Columbus to watch the Draft with his family.
Wherever he’s drafted, Lorenzo Styles Jr. would consider it an honor to be selected in the same draft as his brother.
“It would mean a lot,” Lorenzo Styles Jr. said. “So it’s a blessing to be able to maybe go to the same team, or maybe play against each other in the same conference or something like that. We’ll see, but it’s just a blessing just to have this opportunity.”
