“Life's funny. You have to find a way to keep going, to keep laughing, even after you realize that none of your dreams will come true.” – Claire Messud
That quote by the great Claire Messud is how many Cowboys fans feel after watching Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles at the 2026 NFL Combine.
It was fun watching him jump 43.5 inches in the vertical. It was mesmerizing to see him run a 4.46 40-yard dash. And watching him glide through positional drills was like watching Seabiscuit compete at the Kentucky Derby.
But as the combine wore on, it became more evident that Styles was never going to make it to the Cowboys at No.12. He is a rare athlete and in a class without many top-end players at more valuable positions, it just makes sense that he’ll get picked inside the top-10 selections. He finished the combine with the all-time RAS (Relative Athletic Score) record with a perfect 10.0.
Sonny Styles is a LB prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored an unofficial 10.00 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 1 out of 3215 LB from 1987 to 2026.
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) February 27, 2026
Splits projected, all times unofficial, agilities left, bench tmrw, but 10.00 RAS watch is officially on!… pic.twitter.com/f2JFhymsXH
The Dallas Cowboys can all but kiss Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles goodbye
Not that long ago, Styles was the consensus pick for Dallas at No. 12 in every single mock draft. It was just a given that the Cowboys would take him at that spot, and now, it will feel like a miracle if he even makes it out of the top-10. In fact, you can make an argument that he could go as high as No. 5 to the Giants, given how big a need off-ball linebacker is for New York.
Now, there is always a (slight) chance that he could still fall to the Cowboys at No. 12. Off-ball linebacker isn’t a spot that most teams value and maybe a few offensive tackles could go higher than expected. But the chances of that are low and it’s time for the Cowboys to shift their attention elsewhere.
And if we are being optimistic, this might be better for Dallas anyway. They have needs all over on defense, and linebacker is usually the easiest position to fill.
The free-agent linebacker class is shockingly robust, and it sure seems like the Cowboys have their eye on Nakobe Dean. They already have one capable off-ball linebacker with DeMarvion Overshown, and the hope is that Shemar James can prove to be a capable backup.
Another important factor here is the depth of the linebacker position in the 2026 NFL Draft. If you were able to take your eyes off Styles on Thursday night, you would have seen that Jacob Rodriguez (Texas Tech), Kyle Louis (Pittsburgh), and Anthony Hill Jr. (Texas) all had strong performances. And that doesn’t even factor in other linebackers like C.J. Allen, who decided not to participate in the drills on Thursday.
Styles is the clear-cut top linebacker in this draft, assuming you consider Arvell Reese an EDGE prospect at the next level. But this is a deep linebacker draft with talent galore. With Styles likely off the board by pick No. 10, that could allow the Cowboys to attack more valuable positions like EDGE and cornerback.
There is no doubt that Styles is a fantastic prospect, and it will really suck to watch him potentially land with a team like the Giants or the Commanders.
But if that means a player like Reuben Bain Jr. or Caleb Downs falls to No. 12, that might not be such a bad thing. And if you've followed the draft process long enough, you'll get your heart broken time and time again with prospects who just don't fall quite far enough to your favorite team.
Such is life as an NFL fan.