Spring practice is a time for experimentation for college football programs, including tinkering with potential position changes that could pay dividends during the regular season.
At Ohio State, head coach Ryan Day said his team will evaluate a pair of players–safety Sonny Styles and offensive tackle Josh Fryar–at different spots this spring.
Styles will get a look at linebacker, while Fryar will see some reps inside at guard.
“We’ve had conversations with Sonny and he has a lot of flexibility to do a lot of different things, which is great,” Day said about Styles, who played safety and nickelback in 2023. “He’s embracing some of those things. So as we get into spring, we’ll start to figure out exactly how those will all shake out. But when you see Sonny, he has the flexibility to do multiple different things.”
Linebacker for Sonny Styles and guard for Josh Fryar are position changes Ohio State’s coaches will at least take a “peek” at this spring.https://t.co/BV14S9ab3G
— Andy Anders (@AndyAnders55) February 8, 2024
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Styles finished with 53 tackles and two sacks in 2023. Fryar, meanwhile, started at right tackle, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors from the media and a third-team nod from the coaches.
However, he might be a better fit at guard, both in 2024 and down the road in the NFL.
“Josh has a little bit of swing capability there, so he’s gonna be on the right side right now,” Day said. “We’re gonna take a look to see what the right combination will be on the right side now that we’ve lost Matt. He’s gonna play tackle, he’s gonna play a little bit of guard and we’ll kind of see how that shakes out as the spring goes on.”
The Ohio State spring game is set for April 13.