Sonny Styles is in the midst of some NFL firsts. The draft pick came first, made by Washington at No. 7 overall, followed by the adorned Commanders hat and the Roger Goodell hug. Then came the introductory press conference and Friday’s formally signed rookie contract.
The first professional practice came later that afternoon, where he adorned the burgundy and gold No. 52 for the first time.
“It just felt right,” Styles told on-site reporters during a Friday press conference. “It was like it was meant
to be.”
Cornerback Mike Saniristil had the No. 0 he wore at Ohio State, but Styles didn’t ask for it. He wasn’t concerned much about that.
“I’m not a big number guy,” Styles said. “I wasn’t big into single digits; I liked No. 0. Mikey has zero, so I was telling Coach (Ken) Norton that, when I look into the room, with London Fletcher (No. 59) on the wall, LaVar Arington (No. 56) and I think Ken Harvey (No. 57) and Monte Coleman (No. 51), and it was all like 50s numbers. I was gonna take a 50 number, and growing up I would watch Patrick Willis, Ray Lewis, and I thought No. 52 would be cool. Then my dad (pointed out that) five plus two is seven, which was the number of my draft pick. I thought it was pretty cool. That’s how I landed on it. I didn’t have a special number or whatever.”
All this new will continue well into training camp and into the regular season, when he’ll make his first NFL tackle and his first game-changing play. There’s work ahead before that happens, from learning new coordinator Daronte Jones’ scheme to the prospect of earning the green dot as on-field defensive play caller.
That’s a possibility even as a rookie. Head coach Dan Quinn said he’ll let someone earn it time, by performance under stress – sometimes Quinn purposely won’t send in a play call to see how a player reacts – leadership and what he calls ‘real-time processing.”
Quinn said Styles will be among the inside linebackers learning both positions, but there’s tons of install, teaching and processing to be done before scheme mastery is expected. Styles went through some 2025 Vikings defensive film – Jones worked under Vikings coordinator Brian Flores last season – but is just getting into the Commanders playbook. The coaches will let him crawl before he walks and walk before he runs, but there’s time for that process to play out.
“The two inside linebacker spots have similarities, but there’s also some nuances,” Quinn said in his Friday presser. “During the course of the spring and in training camp, we’ll work him and some other guys at both of the spots. There’s a lot that he can do. And like all the players, we’re going to try to do the best we can to put him in the spots, to really allow them to do their thing, you know, at full speed and at a high level. A lot of times that takes all the way through camp as well. So, there’s no limits on what I think he can become, but I’m going to let the whole process really play all the way through because there’s a lot to go over.”
Styles never shied from work, not as a defensive back and not since transitioning to linebacker.
“The more reps you have, the better you get,” Styles said. “This is my third year at linebacker and I want to keep growing at an exponential rate. I had great coaching in college. I’m going to have great coaching here as well. I’m going to keep getting better and better.”
