Just one week into preseason camp, sophomore safety Sonny Styles is already emerging as a talent Ohio State can’t afford to keep on the sideline as it goes about trying to reverse the troubling trends that plagued the final two games of last season.

Styles, who reclassified to the 2022 recruiting class and graduated from Pickerington High School Central as a junior, played limited snaps in 12 games a season ago as a mostly 17-year-old true freshman. He turned 18 years old in November and went on to play 12 snaps in Ohio State’s loss to Georgia in the Peach Bowl.

Despite his age and lack of experience, Styles never looked out of place on the field, making him a clear frontrunner to top the two-deep roster at one of the safety positions this fall. He is well on his way to doing just that as he ran with the first-team defense as the starting nickel safety during the first practice of camp last week.

Although much is still to be decided with camp in its early stages, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles didn’t mince words last week when asked about Styles’ inclusion in the starting secondary at the moment.

“Sonny has shown that and earned that right to really step up and play and be a part of the ones,” Knowles said.

While Styles asserting himself to be among Ohio State’s three starting safeties is hardly a surprise, the fact he’s seeing time as the nickel safety may come as a surprise to some. Styles’ blend of size and speed makes him a seemingly perfect fit for the bandit, which represents the strong safety position in Knowles’ 4-2-5 alignment, but Knowles noted Styles is too talented to be pigeonholed into one particular role.

“He’s extremely talented and can do it all,” Knowles said.

Safeties coach Perry Eliano echoed Knowles’ sentiment on Tuesday, calling Styles “kind of a unicorn” with his ability to do everything on the field. Eliano also cautioned not to read too much into where Styles lines up early on in camp, saying all the safeties must be prepared to move around if circumstances dictate a lineup shuffle.

“We’re a safety-driven defense, so one of the things those guys have to know is they have to learn everything,” Eliano said. “Anything can happen in a game, and it’s our job as coaches to prepare our guys for the what-if because things do happen. It’s a long season, and we plan on playing for a long time. For you to read into it, that’s totally up to you guys, but we’re just trying to find the very best mix and chemistry to utilize our personnel and talent we have on this football team.”

Still, Eliano made it clear what his general expectation for Styles’ role is this season. “He’ll be on the field,” he said.

Regardless of where he’s lining up during practice, and with what unit, Styles isn’t getting bogged down by the hype or expectations. Exuding calm confidence not often seen in such a young player, Styles is prepared to do whatever is asked of him this season.

“I’m comfortable anywhere on the field,” he said. “They move me around a little bit, I’m not set to any position … I think my favorite thing is making plays in multiple spots. Going from the half to being in the box, playing in the middle of the field, playing man-to-man. Just being able to do it all.”

If the nickel safety position is, in fact, where Styles carves out his role this season, he believes it will suit his game well as a player who can wreck offensive game plans in a variety of ways.

“I think it’s just another way to display versatility,” he said. “I’m able to be in the slot, play coverage, blitz off the edge. It feels good to know that they trust me and believe in me to move me around in different places.”

As for how he believes he would fare against the variety of body types he would see as the nickel safety, which could cover either tight ends or receivers depending on the formation, Styles believes the talent he sees in practice every day trumps anything he may come across during the season.

“We’re going against the best receivers in the country, and we have some really good tight ends as well,” Styles said. “We get to go against Marv (Harrison), Emeka (Egbuka), all those guys. You get those repetitions against them (in practice) and then you get into a game against other dudes and I think the game is a little slower.”

Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on Twitter @DillonDavis56.