Lorenzo Styles was a role player on the 1999 St. Louis Rams and now the franchise has a chance, albeit not an easy one, to draft his superstar son. The Rams might need to trade up for Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles, and he was one of the players who Blaine Grisak highlighted recently as a prospect that’s worth it:
Styles is an immediate upgrade over Omar Speights and continues to improve the level of the back seven. Sitting at the 13th overall pick, there is a better chance of moving up inside the top-10 for a premier talent than there has been in past years. A big reason why the Rams were unable to get a deal done with the Panthers last season was because a drop from eighth overall to 26 is significant. The Rams won’t have that roadblock this season.
Styles is the 6th-ranked player on the consensus big board after displaying immense physical talent at the NFL Scouting Combine.
The 6’5, 244 lbs linebacker ran a 4.46 and leaped 43.5” vertical and 11’2 broad-wise.
Styles began his Ohio State career as a safety, but he settled in at linebacker in 2024. He’s improved in diagnosing play development. The former Buckeye diffuses block attempts with crisp hand strikes and leverages run fits with force/anchor strength. There are times when he slips back into a containment-based approach, but he has plenty of short-area quickness and pursuit speed to get where he needs to go. He can make an impact from multiple spots on the field and is a plus man-cover talent. Styles is an emerging player with the traits and versatility to garner longer looks by NFL evaluators. He could see his stock soar leading up to draft day.
Being compared to Warner is a far stretch better than if Sonny was compared to Papa: Lorenzo Styles was a third round pick in 1995 by the Falcons, also out of Ohio State, but his career as a starter never materialized.
After two seasons with Atlanta, Styles was traded to the Rams as a player that the new coaching staff led by Dick Vermeil would hope could blossom in a new situation. However, Styles appeared in only 10 games over the first two seasons with St. Louis and then in 1999 the team found out that this guy named London Fletcher was pretty good.
Though Styles played in all 16 games, he made zero starts and had 18 tackles. He had one tackle in each playoff game that year as well, including the Super Bowl.
The Rams did finally ask Styles to start five games in 2000, but that would end up being his final career NFL season. He went on to do some coaching at the lower levels, but his real legacy now lives on in his son Sonny.
Steven Ridings mentioned that the Rams should “run to the podium” for him:
A first rounder at this position would step in as a Day 1 starter and instantly upgrade the defense. Prospects with sideline-to-sideline speed and coverage ability would fill a noticeable gap in the Rams’ front seven. If Sonny Styles drops, the Rams will likely be racing to the podium to add him to their young and budding defense.
Few expect Sonny Styles to make it to pick 13. But if the Rams want a little bit of ‘99 mojo with a player who is miles better as a prospect who is father was 31 years ago, you couldn’t do better than the ultimate son, Sonny Styles.
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