The Washington Commanders took one of the most athletic players in this year's draft class, and analyst Logan Paulsen loves the pick.

The Commanders took Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles -- a player they didn't think would be available to them -- with the No. 7 overall pick. Styles, First-Team All-American and All-Big Ten selection, Styles (6-foot-5, 244 pounds) was a key piece of the best defense in college football last season. In his senior season in 2025, he earned at least an 87 from Pro Football Focus in run game, tackling (he had an FBS-best 92.2) and coverage. The year before, he surpassed those numbers, amassing 100 tackles, six sacks and one forced fumble as the Buckeyes went on to win the national championship.

But there's more Styles' skill set besides production. He was a leader on Ohio State's defense, which is one of the reasons the coaching staff awarded him the "Block O" jersey prior to the start of the season. His athletic traits are among the rarest in draft history, as he he recorded a 43.5- inch vertical jump, the highest mark of any player at any position since 1999 who weighed more than 240 pounds as part of a 9.99 Relative Athletic Score (RAS). Those traits allow him to impact the Commanders at almost every level, from covering tight ends and running backs in the passing game to hawking down rushers in the backfield.

Here's Paulsen's full evaluation of Styles, who he had ranked as the best defensive player on his big board:

"From an athletic standpoint, from a length standpoint, Sonny Styles is a very unique prospect. I hope I can articulate that. If you pull up his RAW, he is a 10 RAW (raw athletics Score). He is tall; he's heavy; he's long; he's fast. You just don't see players like this at this position and play the way he does.

Styles can bring some of that flexibility to this defense in terms of coverage principles, rushing principles and run fit principles. That's gonna be outstanding, but I think you start right down the middle. You say, 'Hey, learn this one spot, and then we'll see what we can add to your plate.' Because ultimately what you're looking for is can you be that "defensive playmaker" the same way Jeremiah Love was talked about on the offense side of the Football?

That's what you're looking at here with Styles. As a pure linebacker, it's not he will initially be, but it's what he can possibly be in terms of bringing flexibility to the defense making it hard for offenses to target runs to target protections and helping them find overloads. In terms of third down blitz packages, that's what this skill set is all about. This is so intoxicating from a football X and O standpoint, because the staff here has done this before.

The other thing is that Dan Quinn is on this staff. Talk about a coach who understands how to use a unique skill set. I remember going to Atlanta and playing for DQ and being like, 'Hey Logan, your superpower is blocking a six-technique reaching a nine. That's why you're in the league. That's why you're special.' That was a very small window, but he helped me hit that mark. I think about what he's done With Micah Parsons and some of these big safeties he had in Dallas. I think about what we did with the Legion of Boom. Those guys were considered kind of cast-offs. They were these tall, long corners that couldn't play conventional defense in the NFL, and DQ kind of sculpted roles for success.

That's the thing that I'm so excited about. The may not be a coach in the league who's better equipped to maximize Styles. I'm just gonna piggyback on London Fletcher's story from our Command Center Draft Show that he told. London is really good friends with Sonny Styles' dad, Lorenzo. They played together on the Rams, and they won a Super Bowl together. Lorenzo Styles said to Fletch, 'I want him to be a Commander.' I think part of the reason you want that for your son is because of the scheme that they're going to be playing and the coaches they have on staff here in Washington."

You can check out the full discussion in the podcast above.