Peter Schrager isn't hiding his feelings for Sonny Styles.
The ESPN NFL Insider is going all-in on the former Buckeye linebacker being the star of the upcoming draft. Styles had the fastest 40-yard-dash time among linebackers, running a 4.46, and he also had the highest vertical jump at an amazing 43.5 inches.
It was all enough for Schrager to tell the world how he felt about Styles.
Halle Berry. Sydney Sweeney. Who's your crush?
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) February 27, 2026
Mine is Sonny Styles.
Sorry.
And I can see him as John Harbaugh's next great LB.
Can he be the Giants pick at 5?
From today's NFL Live. @ESPNNFL @minakimes @LauraRutledge @FieldYates pic.twitter.com/FDzhKqpTPQ
"I am in full-blown crush mode with Sonny Styles. I love watching the highlights and I love everything I'm hearing from teams," Schrager said.
And I guarantee he's not alone. Styles, a safety-turned-linebacker, has been trending up over the last few weeks and there is some talk that he could be the first Buckeye selected over edge rusher Arvell Reese and safety Caleb Downs.
Sonny Styles crushes the NFL Combine
Styles' improvements at linebacker over the past year are well documented. As a former safety, Styles has the coverage and range in zone defense that NFL teams covet at the position. His athletic profile already compared favorably with the other top players in the draft, but his numbers placed him among the elite players in this era of analytics and metrics.Â
@OhioStateFB's Sonny Styles earns a 94 overall draft score, the highest by any defender since Next Gen Stats implemented NFL Combine motion tracking in 2023.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) February 28, 2026
David Bailey, A.J. Haulcy, Rueben Bain Jr., and Arvell Reese follow Styles atop the class in this composite metric. pic.twitter.com/C53m2jJf3E
Where do current mock drafts place Sonny Styles?
There's still an odd range for Styles that doesn't make a lot of sense. CBS Sports is doing updated mock drafts after every day of the combine and two analysts (Ryan Wilson and Blake Brockermeyer) have styles going 20th to the Cowboys, which seems pretty low. The other three analysts (Mike Renner, Josh Edwards and Garrett Podell) have Styles inside the top 10, going as high as seventh to the Commanders.
But Schrager says there is another team in the NFC East that could be the right fit.
"John Harbaugh's defenses have been anchored by Ray Lewis, CJ Mosley and Roquan Smith," Schrager said. "The New York Giants sit there at No. 5...and I wonder if the Giants, who always had in a Harbaugh team that minister of defense in the middle, see Sonny Styles as that potential guy for the next ten years."
So how does Sonny Styles in Gotham sound?Â