Styles said Thursday that he has a lot of work to do to reach Hamilton’s level.
“It was just funny. All that texting stuff, it’s all great and cool, but what matters is what you do on the field,” he said. “He has put in a lot of effort on the field, so I have to catch up quite a bit.
The versatility Styles brings is something NFL clubs crave in today’s game. Players like Hamilton or Seattle’s Nick Emmanwori can completely change the way defenses play. The more positions a player can excel at, the more it allows coordinators to be creative with their coverage and coverage.
Styles said the move from safety to linebacker will help him at the NFL level, where he has a different perspective and experience to bring to the game.
“Playing safety, I think it helped me understand the overall defensive game,” he said. “I played free safety, strong safety and (and) nickel my first two years, and to be able to see the game from that lens and then take that and go to linebacker, I think it helped me see the whole picture versus just seeing parts of it.
An off-ball linebacker isn’t often viewed as a top-5 pick, but Styles’ versatility could get him there next month.