Two weeks before the 2025 season begins, Ohio State revealed that senior linebacker Sonny Styles was chosen as the recipient of the Block “O” jersey.
He will no longer don his No. 6 jersey and will become the sixth player in Ohio State history to wear No. 0, joining Cody Simon (2024), Xavier Johnson (2023), Kamryn Babb (2022), Thayer Munford (2021) and Jonathon Cooper (2020.)
Styles is just 20 years old, but he quickly emerged as a leader for this team after the Buckeyes lost 17 players to the NFL following the 2024 national championship season.
“I just try to carry myself the right way with the way I was raised and instill some of those values into the younger guys,” Styles said in the spring. “It’s easy to be a leader on this team. We have so many great people. Not just players but the people they are and the way they carry themselves off the field and outside the locker room and things like that.”
The former five-star recruit went through a position change in the middle of his Ohio State career, making the move from safety to linebacker and he has been a mainstay on the Buckeye defense since the 2023 season when he earned a starting spot.
In 39 games, Styles has racked up 162 tackles (11 for loss), eight sacks, six passes defended, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
Despite being a major part of the title win last season with 100 tackles, Styles’ message for this year’s team has been consistent.
“The energy right now is just this team trying to prove that we’re our own story,” Styles said. “I think that’s just a big emphasis that last year was their own team and we won a national championship and guys from that team, we’ll hold onto that forever. But this team, we’re trying to build our own story, we have something to prove and we have a little chip on our shoulder.”
