Washington Commanders linebacker Sonny Styles will make his NFL debut on Sunday. The Commanders open the season on the road at Philadelphia against the defending NFC East champion Eagles. With the game at 4:25 and the legendary Tom Brady on the call, there will be plenty of eyes on Styles.
After four seasons at Ohio State, that’s nothing new for the former All-American. But that’s the past. He’s now in the NFL.
This summer, Styles made his preseason debut against the Miami Dolphins. He played around 15 plays. The next week, Styles played a similar number of snaps against the Detroit Lions. Detroit quarterback Joshua Dobbs scored on one play from 50 yards out. Styles was on the field for the play, leading social media “analysts” to blame the rookie
linebacker.
Well, anyone claiming to be an analyst and blaming the touchdown on Styles clearly doesn’t understand football. The defensive end on the play didn’t keep contain, allowing Dobbs to break free. Head coach Dan Quinn even broke down the play.
“So, on that particular one, on that option, they read the defensive end. So, if the defensive end closes, he pulls it,” Quinn said. “So, on that particular one, we’d love Josh [Josephs] to wait it out. And then we were in man-to-man behind, so once it’s handed off and we’re out of pass, get off your man, and everybody get back to it. So, I get it could be a first down, but to have it be a touchdown was certainly disappointing. But it would start with Josh, and then just backside pursuit and speed to finish. But he made a good play, too.”
That should’ve been the end of it, but it’s social media in 2026.
However, former NFL head coach Mike Smith weighed in on the topic and defended Styles.
“One of the worst things about the internet and social media is that everyone can offer an opinion on something, regardless of whether they are qualified to offer anything intelligent,” the former NFL Coach of the Year told Betway.
“Styles is an outstanding player. He’s just a young guy who is still learning how to play the linebacker position at the highest level. He arrived at Ohio State as a safety.”
Smith is correct. Styles came to Ohio State as a safety before moving to linebacker for his final two seasons. He ended his career as a first-team All-American linebacker.
Smith believes we will see
“He is just going through a learning curve. I think Coach Dan Quinn will use him in a way that will give him an opportunity to be a dominant player. Styles has been great at every level he has played at so far. People are judging him based on preseason games. Firstly, they are not actual NFL games. Secondly, when coaching in the preseason, you only show a fraction of what you plan to do. You don’t really put a lot of your scheme on show in these preseason games.”
All great points from Smith.
Styles will have a learning curve. This summer, Quinn mentioned that he had told Styles not to worry about mistakes — make them. The best way to learn is to play through your mistakes. Styles was often trying to be perfect.
Go ahead and bet against Styles.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Former NFL Coach of the Year defends Sonny Styles
