{"id":643350,"date":"2026-05-01T19:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T19:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/643350\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T19:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T19:22:09","slug":"dan-quinn-explains-how-commanders-might-use-sonny-styles-in-2026-nfl-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/643350\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan Quinn explains how Commanders might use Sonny Styles in 2026 NFL season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dan Quinn looked right into a Commanders in-house camera moments after Washington selected linebacker Sonny Styles<\/a> and said two words\u00a0we\u2019ll\u00a0have to paraphrase on this family-friendly site.<\/p>\n

\u201cEff\u00a0yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Commanders got their guy. Their head coach was\u00a0pumped.<\/p>\n

Rightfully so. Styles was one of the best prospects in the 2026 NFL draft<\/a>, only available at No. 7 overall because he plays a non-premium position.\u00a0Styles\u00a0should be\u00a0a\u00a0game-changer\u00a0for a team looking to get younger and faster on defense, with the\u00a0smarts,\u00a0savvy\u00a0and athletic traits to star in the NFL.<\/p>\n

[RELATED: Commanders NFL draft class: Realistic Sonny Styles expectations in 2026<\/a>]<\/p>\n

We knew from the moment mentioned above that Quinn was excited about the Styles pick. We\u00a0hadn\u2019t\u00a0heard much else from him since. He\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0at any of the post-draft press conferences and\u00a0hadn\u2019t\u00a0spoken\u00a0to the independent media before Thursday\u2019s appearance on\u00a0the Rich Eisen show<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Quinn heaped praise on the former Ohio State star, who converted from safety to linebacker a few years back, and\u00a0explained how he felt once the pick was made.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen that took place, knowing that we were going to add him to the group, that was awesome,\u201d Quinn said\u00a0during the interview<\/a>. \u201cHe had such an impact\u00a0at\u00a0Ohio State, and even on his visit here it was so strong that he\u00a0loves (the\u00a0game).\u00a0The traits he has\u00a0playing\u00a0the game and where we think he can go to,\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0really pumped about.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026\u00a0Every once in a while\u00a0all the stars align. This was one of those cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quinn believes the sky\u2019s clearly the limit for\u00a0the 6-foot-5, 244-pound athlete<\/a>, someone who wowed at the combine and in\u00a0a visit to the Commanders training complex.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s\u00a0why Quinn\u2019s so excited to work with an individual of\u00a0great talent\u00a0and high character.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait to coach him,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cHe\u2019s\u00a0hungry for it; he wants to improve. Seeing his first couple years at DB and then shifting down to linebacker at the start of the 2024 season, I just felt like this guy\u2019s\u00a0gonna\u00a0take off. Reps at the position, and like just seeing it more and more, I cannot wait to get rolling with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quinn\u2019s mind is already racing with the prospect of adding him to the Commanders defense, working with coordinator Daronte Jones<\/a> on how to use Styles best. Considering Styles\u2019\u00a0talent and versatily, it sounds like the Commanders are going to get creative.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will play in a lot of\u00a0zone, where we will have vision to the QB and you can imagine this type of speed, this type of length, to be able\u00a0to\u00a0close to the ball,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cAlthough he\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0blitzed\u00a0a ton at Ohio State \u2014 (Arvell) Reese was there, as well \u2014 the fact that\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0going to send this guy as a blitzer. So, I think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0that type of versatility, where we will align him, how we can do that. He\u2019s got the football acumen because of his time at safety, the coverage part of his game is intact and so to see him unleashed in some new ways, that\u2019s going to be something that I very much look forward to being a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Commanders could also add the green dot to his helmet, a relative rarity for a\u00a0rookie.\u00a0Being in charge of\u00a0communication\u00a0with\u00a0the defensive play caller requires leadership and scheme mastery, which is why veterans often carry the mantle. Quinn said that Styles might be up for the assignment right away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of the nice things about guys already doing that in college,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cIn the old days,\u00a0we\u2019d\u00a0wait to see if he\u00a0has\u00a0the leadership\u00a0in that space.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0the type of player who is certainly capable of that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dan Quinn looked right into a Commanders in-house camera moments after Washington selected linebacker Sonny Styles and said…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,100976,593,3373,133467,85,72554,1272],"class_list":["post-643350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dan-quinn","tag-nfl","tag-ohio-state","tag-sonny-styles","tag-sports","tag-the-commanders","tag-washington-commanders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}