Michigan fans thought they were finally getting a break. Two of Ryan Day’s top dogs, Sonny Styles and Lorenzo Styles Jr. are headed to the NFL. And if you include the other NFL-bound Ohio State stars who were threats in 2025, the Wolverines can exhale, right? If Lee Corso were here, he would say, “Not so fast.”

At the 2026 NFL Combine, Laverna Styles, mom of Sonny and Lorenzo, made sure Ann Arbor knew what’s coming despite her sons leaving Columbus. Rich Eisen, half-joking but very aware of what the Styles name has meant to The Game, passed a message to Stacey Dales. 

“Would you please pass along this question on behalf of the Michigan Wolverines, can we confirm there are no more Styles coming?” he said.

When Dales relayed it, the Styles matriarch didn’t hesitate. 

“Not right now,” she said. “But one day I’ll have grandbabies and I’ll make sure they’ll be ready to go too. Go Bucks.”

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And with that, she put Rich Eisen on notice because while Sonny and Lorenzo Styles aren’t returning, this isn’t a one-generation flash. The Styles pipeline runs deep. Their father Lorenzo Styles Sr. played LB at Ohio State from 1992 to 1994. He went on to spend time with the Atlanta Falcons and the St. Louis Rams, winning Super Bowl XXXIV with the Rams. He logged two interceptions in 23 games as a Buckeye before building an NFL resume that lasted six seasons. Laverna and Lorenzo Sr. met at Ohio State and football is part of the foundation.

“My husband has worked with these boys since they were like 4 or 5 years old,” Laverna told NFL Network. “They thought they were playing games. They were running outside with parachutes on their back. They were 4 and 5 thinking it was a game, not realizing their dad’s getting them ready for this day today.”

That day showed up in Indianapolis in a big way starting with Sonny Styles. The 6’5, 240 pound LB ran a 4.46 in the 40-yard dash, tying his Buckeye teammate Arvell Reese for the best time among LBs that day. His 43.5-inch vertical was just 1.5 inches off the all-time combine record. He also posted an 11’2 broad jump, the fourth-best among LBs since 1999. According to reports, he’s the only player over 240 pounds to clear 43 inches in the vertical since 2003. His estimated athletic score is 92, which tops among LBs at the event.

Yahoo Sports’ latest mock draft has him projected No. 12 overall to the Dallas Cowboys. After that workout, some scouts are even thinking as high as top-5. And he’s just 21 years old after reclassifying in high school. You don’t usually see that blend of size, speed, and timing. But this has been in preparation since the brothers were kids and it also showed in his older brother’s performance on Friday. 

Lorenzo Styles Jr. just changed his draft conversation

Lorenzo Styles Jr. took a different road to get here. He started at Notre Dame as a WR before transferring to Ohio State and switching to DB. It paid off as his NFL combine record beat Sonny’s less than 24 hours later. His 4.27 in the 40-yard dash became the fastest time of any player at this year’s combine. It’s also the fastest recorded by a safety at the event since at least 2003, per NFL Network.

Styles broke the previous record of 4.31 seconds, run by both Curtis Samuel (2017) and Parris Campbell (2019), for the fastest 40 time by a former Ohio State player since the combine began releasing official times.

“I definitely wanted to do more, but I feel like everything turned out the way it was supposed to be,” Styles said. “Having the opportunity to go to Ohio State, I feel like it’s developed me and prepared me for the NFL. There’s going to be some hardships, so I had to go in and work my way up, do special teams. If the situation was different, I might have not done those things, so I think it’s prepared me to have a long NFL career and perform.”

Lorenzo Jr. came in viewed as a possible Day 3 pick in a deep safety class that includes Ohio State teammate Caleb Downs. But after that lightning speed, there could be a change in projections. When Stacey Dales asked Laverna if she expected that kind of speed, she was honest. 

“Yeah, I did,” she said. “I actually knew he was going to run that fast when he only had got a 39 in the vertical. I said, ‘Oh, he’s mad. He’s ready to go over here and do this now.’”

For most prospects, 39-inch vertical is elite but that’s fuel for the Styles family. Lorenzo Jr. is five inches shorter than his younger brother, yet his vertical ranked fourth among safeties at the combine. So the message out of Indianapolis was clear. The Styles era at Ohio State might be closing on the field, but it’s not disappearing. And if you’re a Michigan fan hoping this was the end of it, Laverna said to give it a generation.