The pick is in.

The seventh pick in the 2026 NFL draft, the Washington commanders select.

Sunny Stiles linebacker from Ohio State Locked on NFL draft is sponsored by Kalshi.

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Kalshi, trade on anything. I'm Teneitra Batiste, and I am joined now by David Harrison from

Locked-on commanders. And David Stiles had actually dropped in a number of mock drafts heading into

tonight. So were you surprised the commanders actually went with him at number seven?

I was not surprised that the commanders went with him at number seven. In fact, Sunny Stiles has been the number one target for the Washington commanders, at least on locked on commanders for the greater part of the last two months. And I've been looking at every scenario possible to say, well, maybe if this team takes this guy or if this team takes this guy or a guy like Arvall Reese falls down the board a little bit more than expected, it could lead to Sunny Stiles being available. So as soon as, as soon as the sixth pick came out and it was not Sunny Stiles, I was all in on Sunday for the commander's number seven. Unfortunately, they made me sound really smart today. Indeed, indeed. And as you mentioned, he's someone who the commanders had really had their eye on the last couple months, kind of fits that mode of what Coach Dan Quinn likes in terms of an impact middle linebacker. So yeah, it seems like that's a nice fit. But nonetheless, a stacked linebacker room for this commander's team. So where do you kind of see him fitting in in the linebacker room for Washington? Yeah, I think he's just going to be one part of a very lethal group with Leo Chenal, Frankie Louvre, even Jordan McGee, a young day three pick a few years ago who continues to develop. They've got a lot of athleticism, a lot of leadership. That's something about Sunny Style. I talked to him at the Ohio State Pro Day, and I walked away there. I'm about 20 years or so older than Sunny Styles, and I walked away from that conversation thinking, I may like, I feel like I should be calling him, sir. Like, this dude is just, he's matured beyond his years, but he's confident in his skin without being cocky. He's just got a lot of things that you want. What Dan Quinn really talked about was the importance on defense of having a communicator at the second level of defense and the third level of defense. Don't know who the green dot supposedly guy is going to be, certainly could be sunny, but at a bottom line, you now have a guy who is known for his leadership, known for his communication ability, and known for his ability to make plays along the defense from the front end to the middle to the back end. It doesn't matter where you have.

So Sonny's going to fit in really, really well with Durante Jones disguised defense.

And I think he really takes this unit up a notch.

Yeah, yeah. And you just kind of alluded to it as well.

We know what kind of amazing combine he had to show office skills. But what are some of the other things that you kind of like that set styles apart from some of the other linebackers in this draft that again is sort of that

perfect fit for a commander's defense? Yeah, I think part of it is the history that he has as an

athlete, right? He came into the college game as a five-star recruit as a safety. And he started

off his career at safety. But along the way, they made the decision, him as coaches and everybody else made the decision like, hey, we need to move you into that linebacker position, put on a little bit of weight. And he went there and didn't miss a step, didn't miss a beat, didn't sit back and say, oh, no, I'm a safety. This is what I want to do. This is what I want to be. you know, he accepted the challenge And not only did he accept it, but he became the best

linebacker in the nation. I mean, it's rare to see a linebacker go this early in the NFL draft. It takes a special set of skills to do that. Sonny has those special set. There's those special skills. And I think it's because of the way he embraced the change, embrace the transition into the position he's in now, and he's going to do that in the NFL as well.

Yeah, and probably doesn't hurt for him to have been in that pro-style offense with Ohio State that gets him ready. And to your point as well, David, just having that mindset of, hey, wherever it is that I'm needed, wherever they're going to put me, I'm going to find a way to excel. That's the kind of mindset that the commanders are going to need in order to get back

into the conversation of being at the top of their game,

much like we talked about with the 2024 season that saw them get to the NFC championship

game.

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