Comparing Sonny Styles and Bobby Wagner seems like a dramatic overreach.
One guy has never played an NFL snap. The other’s a six-time first-team All-Pro, 10-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champ destined for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
While Wagner wasn’t close to vintage form in 2026 – he has lost a step or two (or three) – even Commanders fans can agree that Wagner was elite for a long time.
All that said, it’s natural to mention them in the same sentence, considering the No. 7 overall NFL draft
pick is taking Wagner’s place in Washington’s defense.
That’s why there has been so much Styles-Wagner talk at recent Commanders OTA sessions open to the media. While we aren’t comparing resumes, we can identify traits shared between the two.
“With the two of them and a lot of great players, how much they love football, and it goes into this dedication to find an edge,” head coach Dan Quinn told on-site reporters in a Tuesday press conference. “To stay early, to go late, knowing they’re making sacrifices that other people won’t make in the dark hours.
“And Wags lived that, you know, and Sonny has those same traits of how much he loves it and wants to put in the time and the effort to do that. And so, that’s one trait that I see as a commonality between those two. And all great players, you’re like, man, they love it and then they’re going to like do whatever it takes to get themselves ready to go.”
We can see the immense physical skill on tape, with so much dynamic ability that will guaranteed be impactful at the NFL level. It’s other things that remain somewhat unknown.
It’s the other things, the intangibles and drive, that are showing up as he merges into the Commanders offseason program.
“Sonny’s in our room now,” fellow linebacker Frankie Luvu said. “That dude’s a sponge.”
Those are all positives as Commanders fans dare to dream of what he can be. While mimicking Wagner’s career, Styles is most often given a Fred Warner player comp. That’s a compliment of the highest order, considering Warner’s also destined for a gold jacket.
Styles can’t skip ahead to the end of the book. All he can do now is learn the defense, study like crazy and establish proper work habits required to make the instant impact everyone’s expecting.
“He’s still learning how to be a pro, which is great,” Washington defensive coordinator Daronte Jones said in a press conference. “But again, he’s meeting every morning with [Linebackers Coach] Ken Norton and [Assistant Linebackers Coach] George Banko and the way he’s looking at the game is good for us and we just want to continue and continue to build on his development as a player and as a linebacker and what we want him to do.”
Norton was over the moon when the Commanders took Styles at No. 7, and his belief in Styles has been confirmed over and again during his brief time in burgundy and gold.
“He’s big, he’s fast, he’s strong and he’s really smart,” Norton said in a one-on-one interview with ABC 7’s Natalie Spala. “Those are good things to have. We’re excited about his development and what’s in the future.”
