Why Ohio State’s James Laurinaitis is lobbying to add a returning defensive weapon to his room.

COLUMBUS, Ohio –James Laurinaitis, Ohio State’s new assistant football coach, expressed his desire for Sonny Styles to join him in the linebacker room, despite the fact that he is not in charge of the decision.

He sees all of the same reasons why the Buckeyes were so happy to have him in the first place.

“Sonny has such a rare skillset,” Laurinaitis remarked. “You watched him a little bit last year playing the overhang, and you had no idea who he was. Is it a safety or more of an outside linebacker? Is he an old-school Sam (linebacker) if you use that terminology? “He’s extremely versatile.”

The concept behind Styles was that he constantly projected himself as a “positionless player,” going anywhere was needed on a given snap and offering the coaching staff endless alternatives for how to line up.

However, there is a tight line between maximizing the 2024 defense and maximizing Styles in the long run, given that he played both nickel defensive back and bandit safety last season at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds.

He frequently demonstrated his potential in those positions, totaling 53 stops, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, a pass breakup, and a forced fumble. However, it also revealed some of his limits as a player in his second year in college, despite being a year ahead of schedule.

“There’s a lot of different roles that we can put Sonny in to bring out the best in him,” Laurinaitis said in a statement. “He’s only a weapon.

“That’s something we’ll have to consider this spring.” Where to place him depends not just on what we want to do as Silver Bullets, but also on what is best for his future.

That will be a continuing discussion throughout the spring. He’s large enough to be one thing, but athletic enough to be another.

“He’s a big human,” Laurinaitis explained. “Looking at his body size, he would clearly excel as a linebacker.” I also believe he possesses a unique skill set that allows him to play in space, like he did last year.

“I think every coach and our defensive staff would lobby for Sonny to come to their room.”

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