There are combine performances, and then there are combine statements. On Thursday, February 26th, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ohio State sent two linebackers to the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine — and they proceeded to do things that haven't been done before. Like, ever. Record-book stuff. All-time stuff. The kind of stuff that makes NFL scouts drop their clipboards and quietly update their big boards before the shuttle run is even over.
Meet Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese. Two Ohio State defenders. Two 4.46-second 40-yard dashes. One absolutely unforgettable Thursday in Indianapolis.
Speed Doesn't Care About Your Position Group
Let's start with the number that had everyone doing double-takes: 4.46 seconds. Both Styles and Reese ran it. Both weigh over 240 pounds. Both are linebackers. If you're waiting for the catch — there isn't one. That's just what happened.
Since 2000, that combination of weight and speed ranks tied for 11th-fastest ever for any linebacker at 240-plus pounds. The fact that two former Ohio State teammates tied it on the same day, at the same combine, is the kind of coincidence that doesn't feel like a coincidence at all — it feels like the product of an elite program doing elite things.
Other prospects had strong showings Thursday too. Texas Tech edge David Bailey turned heads among defensive linemen, and UCF's Malachi Lawrence flashed off the edge. Florida DT Caleb Banks and Oklahoma's Gracen Halton gave scouts plenty to think about. But make no mistake about who owned the day. It wasn't close.
Sonny Styles: The Best LB Combine Performance... Maybe Ever?
Where do you even start? Styles, a 6'4", 243-pound middle linebacker, came into Indianapolis already generating buzz as a potential top-5 pick. He left having given evaluators every reason to move him even higher on their boards.
The 40 time was the headliner — a 4.46 official, with a blistering 1.51-second 10-yard split that tells you this isn't just straight-line speed. The man accelerates like he's late for something important. But the 40 was actually the second most impressive thing Styles did on Thursday.
The vertical jump was 43.5 inches. Read that again. Forty-three and a half inches. That is the best vertical jump ever recorded by a linebacker at the NFL Combine. Not this year. Not this decade. Ever. For reference, Nick Emmanwori — one of the most freakish athletes in this draft class — posted a vertical that was half an inch lower. DK Metcalf, the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver who looks like he was built in a lab, jumped three full inches lower. Derrick Rose, the 2011 NBA MVP who was widely regarded as one of the most explosive athletes in basketball history, maxed out at 42 inches. Sonny Styles cleared that and then kept going.
Then there was the broad jump: 11 feet, 2 inches. That's tied-fourth all-time among linebackers at the combine. And just to really put a bow on the whole thing, Styles posted an unofficial Relative Athletic Score of 9.99 out of 10.00 — fourth-best among all 3,216 linebackers tested since 1987.
If you're keeping score at home: all-time vertical, fourth all-time broad jump, top-15 all-time 40 for his weight class, and a RAS that barely missed perfection. The only thing Styles didn't break was the actual floor of Lucas Oil Stadium.
Comparisons to San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner have followed Styles throughout draft season, and he's received them graciously. But when you ask him who he models his game after, he points to a different name entirely — Hall of Famer Luke Kuechly.
"He was so smart that people forgot he was such a great athlete," Styles said at the combine. "And that's kind of what I want for myself. I think I'm a great athlete, but I want my football intelligence to stick out more than my athleticism."
Sir, your athleticism just broke a 39-year-old record. The intelligence part might be fighting an uphill battle for attention right now.
Styles has also been candid about where he sees himself thriving at the next level — as a true Mike linebacker, the quarterback of the defense. "I feel like I had a great feel for what was coming," he said. "I want to earn the trust of the guys in the room, earn the trust of the guys behind me, and be able to command the defense."
He's already met with John Harbaugh and the New York Giants. At this rate, the meeting request list is only going to get longer.
Arvell Reese: The Edge Rusher Who Hasn't Even Started Yet
If Styles stole the individual spotlight, Reese made it abundantly clear that Ohio State was sending a two-man wrecking crew to Indianapolis.
At 6'4" and 241 pounds, Reese ran a 4.46-second 40 with a 1.58-second 10-yard split — the fastest mark among all edge rushers on Thursday. He's coming off two productive seasons at Ohio State where he tallied 112 tackles, 52 solo stops, two pass deflections, and 7.0 sacks. He was a first-team All-American alongside Styles. Some mock drafts already have him going as high as No. 4 overall.
But here's the part that should genuinely terrify NFL offensive coordinators: Reese openly admitted he hasn't hit his ceiling as a pass rusher. "I haven't even scratched the surface with really what I can do pass rushing," he said in Indianapolis. You ran a 4.46 at 241 pounds and you haven't scratched the surface yet? Okay. Cool. That's fine.
Reese made his positional preference clear too, telling teams he sees himself as an outside linebacker and edge rusher rather than an off-ball linebacker. It's a decision that makes both football and financial sense — edge rushers get paid, and after Thursday, the bidding war for Reese's services just got a whole lot more competitive.
One team with obvious need? The New York Jets, who created a massive vacancy after trading Jermaine Johnson II to the Tennessee Titans for T'Vondre Sweat. If the Jets have eyes for Reese, they want him hunting quarterbacks — and based on Thursday's results, he's more than capable.
Reese did opt to save his vertical and broad jumps for Ohio State's Pro Day on March 25th, so there's still more to come. Consider that the cliffhanger ending to an already excellent first chapter.
The personal story around Reese is worth telling too. After his 40 time was posted, a message from his former high school teammate Bryce West went viral on X: "Been playing at every level on every team with you since we was 6 years old go shock the world brotha, I'm overly proud of you." The two grew up together in Cleveland, attended Glenville High School, and helped restore that Glenville-to-OSU pipeline that has produced NFL talent for decades. They've shared locker rooms since they were kids. That kind of friendship — from the playgrounds of Cleveland to the floor of Lucas Oil Stadium — doesn't need any extra framing.
The Legacy and What Comes Next
If both Styles and Reese land inside the top 10 of the 2026 NFL Draft, they'll join Tom Cousineau, A.J. Hawk, and Jim Houston as the only Ohio State linebackers ever drafted in the top 10. That's a short, decorated list — and two more names could be added to it in April.
Ryan Day's 2025 defense — the one that held opponents to 9.3 points and 219.1 yards per game — was a historic unit. The reason it was historic is now on full display in Indianapolis, still running fast and jumping high and making everyone in the building recalibrate their expectations.
The rest of the combine runs through Sunday, March 1st. Tight ends and defensive backs take the field Friday. QBs, wide receivers, and running backs go Saturday. Offensive linemen close it out Sunday. There's still a lot of football left to evaluate this week.
But the bar has been set. Sonny Styles set it at 43.5 inches, to be exact. The rest of the week has a lot to live up to.
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