Ohio State Football: Three recruits who could see immediate playing time
By Ryan Stano
Sonny Styles wasn’t even supposed to be in this recruiting class. He was originally a 2023 commit, but he decided to reclassify and join the 2022 class. Styles ends up being the second-best player from the state of Ohio just behind Hicks. He is the best safety in the state as well.
Styles is joining a safety room that has a lot of questions surrounding it. It looks like there will be more two-high safety action under Knowles, so that opens up playing time a bit. Josh Proctor is coming back after injury and Knowles brought along senior safety Tanner McCalister from OK State.
With McCalister being a senior transfer, he will likely get one of the starting safety jobs. Proctor is likely to have the upper hand on the other one, but that doesn’t mean he automatically gets it. He wasn’t that great in 2020 when he was fully healthy.
Styles could step in and take that role from him if he has a good Spring. Styles has an excellent combination of size and strength. He is someone that is big enough to come into the box and help with run support, but he’s also agile enough to cover receivers and tight ends.
Styles could also put on some weight and move up to be a linebacker if needed. That’s how versatile of a player he is. My guess is that he’ll stay at safety and rotate in on some snaps with Proctor early. Don’t be surprised if he’s the starter by the end of the season though.
The final player on this list could be a darkhorse candidate to get some snaps early on offense.