Ohio State football's Sonny Styles to start at linebacker in season opener

Sonny Styles will start at linebacker in Ohio State’s season opener against Akron on Saturday.

Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said Tuesday that Styles had beaten out C.J. Hicks, a fellow junior, to start on the weak side.

“Sonny has separated himself for sure,” Day said.

The announcement was not an unexpected development. Day said last Thursday that Styles was leading the lone position battle on the defensive side of the ball, and in practices that were open to reporters during the first week of preseason training camp, Styles took reps alongside starting middle linebacker Cody Simon.

Styles debuted as a starter as a sophomore last fall, but lined up in the secondary as a safety. In spring practice, he moved to linebacker , switching positions in order to take advantage of his size at 6 feet 4 and 235 pounds..

“He has done a nice job in this transition from safety,” Day said.

Styles has experience being near the line of scrimmage. A third of his 543 snaps on defense last season came when he was lined up in the box, according to data from Pro Football Focus. He would rack up 53 tackles, a total that was tied for the fifth-most among the Buckeyes in 2023.

But he’ll be up front more often this fall, a change in positioning that required an adjustment at times.

“When you move up, the game moves faster,” Day said. “It’s quicker.”

Styles said earlier this month that he had grown more comfortable being closer to the line of scrimmage .

Day mentioned that Hicks, as well as redshirt sophomore Gabe Powers, would rotate as well this weekend.

“We’ll try to play as many guys as we can in this game,” Day said.

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @joeyrkaufman or email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com .

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football's Sonny Styles to start at linebacker in season opener