Javon Kinlaw Raves About Commanders Rookie Sonny Styles After Training Camp Practice
The Washington Commanders spent their offseason trying to fix a defense that bottomed out in 2025, and one week into training camp, veteran defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw sounds like a man who believes it worked.
Kinlaw was asked about rookie linebacker Sonny Styles following Tuesday’s practice, and he didn’t hold back. Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic posted the exchange on X, capturing Kinlaw’s reaction word for word.
Javon Kinlaw was asked about Sonny Styles.
“Shiiiiiit, where do I start?”
Javon Kinlaw was asked about Sonny Styles.
“Shiiiiiit, where do I start?” pic.twitter.com/n43NQk2Kzz
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) August 4, 2026
Kinlaw kept going from there.
“He’s a freak of nature. Me and him are looking eye to eye, but clearly he’s running 10 mph faster than I am. … He’s coming downhill. He’s coming downhill and he’s bringing thump with it. It’s just fun to see a young, spry guy just bouncing all over the field. He’s just in the box with these running backs, and he’s not getting danced out of the hole. He ain’t losing his ground on contact, he can do some outstanding things in coverage. It’s a blessing. It’s a blessing for me to be around someone like that.”
That’s a veteran defensive lineman describing a rookie linebacker who hasn’t played a regular-season snap yet. Washington used the No. 7 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on Styles, pulling him out of Ohio State after a college career that started at safety before he moved to linebacker as a junior. The size, closing speed and coverage instincts Kinlaw is describing were exactly what made Styles one of the more coveted defensive prospects in this year’s class.
Why Washington Needed This
The Commanders finished the 2025 season at 5-12, a sharp fall after their run to the NFC Championship Game the year before, and the defense was a major reason why. Washington ranked among the league’s worst units in total yards allowed, and fixing that side of the ball became the front office’s clear offseason priority — hence spending a top-10 pick on a linebacker instead of another weapon for quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Styles fits what new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones wants to build. Because he played safety before switching to linebacker at Ohio State, he brings coverage range that a lot of box linebackers simply don’t have. Kinlaw’s comment about Styles doing “outstanding things in coverage” points directly at that background — it’s not a generic scouting-report line, it’s a lineman watching it happen in person.
Head coach Dan Quinn made a similar point back in June, comparing Styles’ command of the defense to how quarterback Jayden Daniels runs the offense. According to ClutchPoints, Quinn said Styles is “in control” as a communicator on the field and can relay calls and checks the way Daniels does in the huddle — a notable compliment for a rookie just getting his footing in an NFL locker room.
A Defense Getting Real Reinforcements
Styles isn’t walking into this alone. Washington also added edge rusher Odafe Oweh, defensive lineman Charles Omenihu, linebacker Leo Chenal and others up front this offseason, giving Kinlaw and returning tackle Daron Payne some actual help. Kinlaw has been one of the more vocal players about the unit’s new talent level all offseason, and Tuesday’s comments on Styles fit that pattern — a guy who has been on the losing end of a bad defense for years now sounding genuinely fired up about the pieces around him.
None of this is confirmed on paper yet. Training camp hype is training camp hype, and it doesn’t always survive the regular season. But when a player with Kinlaw’s track record — who has watched multiple defensive rebuilds in Washington fall short — talks about a rookie the way he talked about Styles on Tuesday, it’s worth paying attention to.
What’s Next
Styles will keep working through padded practices over the next few weeks before the Commanders open preseason play. If the early camp buzz translates to the field once games count, Styles could push his way into the Defensive Rookie of the Year conversation — and give Washington’s defense the kind of difference-maker it didn’t have in 2025.
