SONNY STYLES TACKLING FUTURE GENERATIONS OF NFL RUNNING BACKS & STEELERS FANS

The alphabet made him wait, just like all of us kids back in elementary school.

Sonny Styles steps forward and looks down. Finds his mark that demands another, child prodigy graduating to permanent marker.

The next play is all he’s ever focused on, so why would he have prepared for this moment any other way?

That “other” run, the first one, already clocked 4.49 and if you were watching all day or just keeping up with Twitter trolls, perhaps you caught Tom Pelissero saying that since the league’s been keeping the official numbers (2003), no 240-pound-plus linebacker has ever jumped 11 feet, hopped 40 inches, and run a sub-4.5 40.

TP’s prediction: Sonny Styles was about to knock out the NFL Combine.

But that 4.49 still carries a little u meaning it’s Unofficial.

And one of your Ohio State teammates already went scorched turf at 4.47u.

Sonny Styles ankle rocks and shoulder rolls, Muhammad Ali in slow motion, seesawing left then right—twice—a scheme demon equal parts adrift of the laser’s edge and floating into the sea of #MockDraftMonday possibility.

This is Sonny Styles at the wheel of a John Deere in the heart of the NFL engagement farm. #CrossroadsOfAmerica #MidwestTough #RunWithUs

He looks up. Hops like the sharp-nosed frog he might secretly be. Feels 244 pounds bob against Underwear Olympics gravity, LB25 teeth-first into the county fair bucket.

Styles closes his eyes for the last time anyone cares what position he will actually play on Sunday. Reminds himself to breathe. Bends his knee to The Football Gods. And coils into the hybrid form some four-leaf clovered Defensive Coordinator is about to invent a name for.

Forget Will or Mike—even Brian Urlacher’s Lobo.

Sonny sounds about right.

This is a zone only he can know. And he knows it—whispering 4.46 into existence.

CeeDee Lamb times framemogged Kyle Hamilton?  

NFL+ Simulcam incoming!

Thing is, a 4.46* (1.56 10-yard split) 40 is just one data point—like an 11’2” broad jump or a 43.5” vertical that fries AI server farms trying to fake Sonny Styles high school basketball highlights.

Green Dot guy? He is now the NFL Combine Green Goblin.

And the bigger football-specific question than, Is Styles the next Urlacher? might be:

How the heck did Ohio State lose to Carson Beck with Edge Arvell Reese running damn near step-for-step with Styles and many talking heads still arguing that former Buckeyes Safety Caleb Downs (running at Ohio State Pro Day?) is the 2026 NFL Draft’s best (degenerative knee be damned)?  

Remember: football is a team game.

Remind yourself to breathe.

Sonny Styles is the ultimate chess piece.

In the coming weeks, we’re going to see a lot more of him than being talked about for being faster than slippery All-Pro Wide Receivers like Lamb and All-Everything Unicorns like Hamilton. The post NFL Combine Day 1 graphics were as immediate as they are seemingly ridiculous for a 6’5” inside linebacker—Styles opposite aliens like DK Metcalf and Super Bowl cyborgs like Nick Emmanwori.

I’ve been talking about Sonny Styles a lot lately.

You can watch our original breakdown of the linebacker’s potential re: fortune favoring the bold—believing the Steelers would easily have to move up from 21 long before Styles went full 1988 NBA Slam Dunk Contest on the

2026 NFL Combine—here.

And the shows carried over into my home.

So much so that when the fam got back from Tang Soo Do last Thursday night, my kids beat me to my office to cue up the NFL Combine.

My 6-year-old daughter’s reaction to Alex “Sonny” Styles digging into the Lucas Oil Stadium turf inspired this very story:

“Ohhhhhhh that’s HIM, Daddy! That’s SONNY!”

We watched.

“Look at his muuuuuuuscles!”

We rewinded (not a typo).

We shrieked wide-eyed OMGs.

“Daddy he’s glistening!”

We high-fived. Repeatedly.

(Side quest: Huntrix, I’m coming for ya’ll! Sonny Styles jerseys as Halloween costumes for ALL the Little Lesniewskis!)

(Sidenote: K Pop Demon Hunters absolutely inspired previous personifying elements for both Sonny Styles—aforementioned scheme chameleon—and Makai Lemon, 2026 NFL Draft Slot Demon. The Saja Boys don’t fight fair so why the bleep would I?)

Like my daughter, Styles is someone who changes the temperature of the room when he walks in—even on TV.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may know that I was in high school when #DaBears took a converted safety out of New Mexico at 9 in the 2000 NFL Draft. To this day, a handful of Urlacher 54s hang in my closet.

25 years from now, I hope my daughter is still rockin’ Styles on #SundayFunDay—regardless of where he gets drafted.  

Stolen moments. Momentum-based conversations like these. And after last Thursday night, the Steelers at 21 or any other team hoping they can let the board come to them?

Pick 9 isn’t even the starting line.

For one lucky team, Sonny Styles is about to make a habit of tackling childhood memories.

*The Lucas Oil Stadium was replaced in 2024with more environmentally friendly cork and coconut husks taking the place of traditional rubber pellets. Sonny Styles may actually be even faster.