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LB Alex “Sonny” Styles, Block 'O' (National Champion)

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www.nytimes.com

College football Freaks List 2025: Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith tops a list of 101

The 2025 Freaks List is here. College football is close!
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

College football Freaks List 2025: Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith tops a list of 101​

Even though I’ve been reporting the Freaks List since 2005, I am still blown away numerous times while working on this project with what I hear about some of the amazing things college football players have done or can do.

I rely on the intel from coaches, schools, teammates, parents, NFL scouts, NFL Scouting Combine trainers and agents. As you can see, the hardest part of this project is keeping it to 100. To think, when I first started the list, there were only 10.

No. 10 Sonny Styles, Ohio State, linebacker​

Styles has started 28 games and won’t turn 21 until November. Last year, he finished second on the team in tackles with 100, with 10.5 TFLs and five broken-up passes. The son of former Ohio State star Lorenzo Styles Sr., who won a Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams, is a remarkable athlete. At 6-4 1/2, 243 pounds, he broad jumped 11-0, vertical jumped 40 inches and squatted 675 pounds. His body fat is 10 percent. If not for Jeremiah Smith, Styles would be the Buckeyes’ biggest Freak. (The truth is, it’s close between them.)

“He’s a little faster,” Styles said of Smith, who hit 23.5 mph this year. “My one last year was like 23.2. My most recent one was 22.8. He’s rolling. We’re super competitive with each other. We’ll do bike sprints against each other. We’ll push sleds. We have a bunch of great athletes always pushing each other.”

Like Smith, Styles credits his father for helping him get a good start on developing his Freaky athleticism.

“When I was younger, I did a lot of explosive training with my dad,” he said. “At 5, 6 (years old), we were doing ladders, running with the parachutes, doing broad jumps up hills, box jumps, jump squats. He always made everything a competition.”

Styles said DB Brenten Jones, a 6-2, 205-pound former walk-on, is in the running for biggest Buckeye Freak: “He runs like 23.5, jumps 11-feet broad. Vert’s almost 40. He is a Freak.”
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6483745/2025/07/16/college-football-quarterback-tiers-rankings/
 
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A guy under 6’5” who can hit his elbow on the rim on a basketball court

A guy over 6’4” who can squat the equivalent of two Left Tackles.

They’re the same person

Dude is like one of those sports car hybrids with ridiculous low end torque (electric motor) and ludicrous top end torque (ICE)

The 40 inch vertical at that weight though is the kind of high rpm torque you see in an ICE-only V12 (think the Ferrari F140HC); while the almost power-lifter level squat is the low end torque of a Model S Plaid.


Edit: We could quibble over what “almost power-lifter level” means, but consider that Styles is about half a foot taller than the typical 110 kg power-lifter, which is a huge disadvantage. It is rare to see a lifter in that weight class over 6’1”, and those guys are often deadlift specialists
 
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JohnnyCockfight said:
That kind of athlete with a 675 pound squat... :bow:
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I was excited when he was recruited and came to Ohio State due to the family connection and high school videos. He has become a real favorite to focus on in games.

That squat is over 300kgs. At my best, I did 288kgs on the lowly leg sled press machine. I just checked and 200 kgs is considered elite. 300 kgs must be off the charts, right?
 
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Steve19 said:
I was excited when he was recruited and came to Ohio State due to the family connection and high school videos. He has become a real favorite to focus on in games.

That squat is over 300kgs. At my best, I did 288kgs on the lowly leg sled press machine. I just checked and 200 kgs is considered elite. 300 kgs must be off the charts, right?
Click to expand...
For Styles to be that lean, that fast, and with that jumping ability on top of it, "freak athlete" is truly the best way to describe it. I mean, his squat numbers don't make sense given the above. And you don't get there without extreme work and discipline.

I remember reading a long-form piece on Saquon Barkley when he was at Penn State, the workouts he was doing, and the weight he was putting up. I do not like Penn State, but I would not cheer against Barkley after reading about his work ethic. It surprises me none the success he has had in college and now in the NFL.

And Styles has a bright future ahead of him with that similar kind of work ethic to go along with his size and speed. As long as he keeps progressing in his on the field play, the sky is the limit. He made big strides towards the end of last season.
 
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