When a guy who was recruited as a safety ends up being one of the most physically dominant linebackers to come out of a linebacker factory, you take notice. That’s exactly what Sonny Styles is, a freak of nature who somehow checks every box at 6-foot-5 and 244 pounds.
Styles put together a first-team All-American campaign in 2025 and followed it up with one of the best NFL Combine performances in recent memory. Cincinnati’s defense has needed a true difference maker at linebacker for a while now, and Styles is just that! He earned PFF grades above 85.0 in both coverage and run defense last season. That kind of two-way dominance at the position is rare, and the Bengals need just that.