After a redshirt year at Ohio State, Lorenzo Styles Jr. is 'ready to start making some plays now'
He transitioned to cornerback last year, taking time to learn the position, and now hopes to make a bigger impact for the Buckeyes.
When Lorenzo Styles Jr. decided to transfer from Notre Dame last offseason and returned home to play with his brother at Ohio State, he did so with the idea of moving from wide receiver to cornerback. While Styles had played defense in high school, doing so at the collegiate level, after multiple years of playing offense, was a significant transition.
While Sonny Styles was making plays as a safety for the Buckeyes in 2023, Lorenzo was doing his work behind the scenes. The older of the two brothers played in just two games on defense in his first season in scarlet and gray while also getting some snaps on special teams. He recorded no statistics.
This was done intentionally. While Styles wanted to be on the field, the decision was made during the season that he would redshirt and use 2023 as a developmental year.
"I mean, that was kind of tough," Styles remembered this spring. "Because early on in the season, I knew that was redshirting. So I talked about that with coach (Ryan) Day and he was all for it and he helped me with that process. But there were some games where I could have potentially got in and I feel like that was, wanting to be out there, I feel like that kind of hurt."
After playing in all 26 games across his first two seasons of college football with the Fighting Irish, Styles watched from the sideline much more in his first year at Ohio State.
Admittedly, this was difficult for Styles. He did not have the carrot at the end of the stick that are games each week to look forward to. But he continued to put in the work to get better as a cornerback.
"I feel like the hardest thing for me, or not really the hardest, but I had to stay on the grind even though I knew that week I wasn't playing in the game," Styles said. "So I feel like that just really helped me develop patience, really."
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