Speculation about converting from safety to linebacker has trailed Sonny Styles since he enrolled at Ohio State two years ago.

Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles heard it, too.

“Everybody talks,” Knowles said, “ ’He’s going to be a linebacker, he’s going to be a linebacker.' ”

But Knowles held off on a position change, seeking a chance to first evaluate Styles in the secondary and allow him to play what was his preferred spot.

A move would have also complicated an already ambitious transition for a 17-year-old who had joined the Buckeyes ahead of schedule, having graduated a year early from Pickerington Central High School.

Knowles recognized, though, that change might be inevitable given Styles' size, and the switch is fully underway with the start of spring practice.

In periods of the Buckeyes' practices open to reporters, Styles worked out exclusively with the rest of the linebackers.

The reps are no experiment. Knowles on Thursday acknowledged it as a “permanent” conversion for Styles, who follows in the footsteps of his father, Lorenzo Styles Sr., a linebacker for the Buckeyes in the 1990s.

The growth of the younger Styles, a 6-foot-4 junior who has filled out to 235 pounds this offseason, dovetails with the Buckeyes having a greater need to fill at linebacker than at safety.

Steele Chambers and Tommy Eichenberg, the starting linebackers from last season, left for the NFL, and though Cody Simon is in line to take over for Eichenberg in the middle, there is more inexperience among the potential replacements for Chambers on the weakside. C.J. Hicks, who has taken first-team reps alongside Simon, has played fewer than 100 snaps on defense during his first two seasons at Ohio State.

“Any time you make a move, you want it to be right for the player and for the defense and the team,” Knowles said. “That fit up naturally.”

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Knowles, who previously coached the linebackers as the coordinator before the promotion of graduate assistant James Laurinaitis last month, left the first two practices encouraged by Styles.

He pointed to Styles’ smarts and versatile background, having lined up at multiple safety position last fall, as easing his transition.

“He’s a guy who’s got football intelligence,” Knowles said. “He understands the scheme. He’s played a lot of positions. I think he’s going to be great, because one of the biggest parts of being a linebacker is you have to know all the pieces around you, so you can play fast. Sonny has shown a lot of that.”

Simon offered a similar perspective.

“He knows the game really well,” Simon said, “so he's coming into the role really well.”

Knowles sees Styles as having benefited from the experience at safety. He referenced Malcolm Rodriguez, a linebacker with the Detroit Lions whom Knowles coached at Oklahoma State.

Rodriguez spent his first two years with the Cowboys as a safety before dropping down closer to the line of scrimmage.

“He understood things a lot better,” Knowles said.

There is little of a physical transition needed for Styles. Among the linebackers, only Gabe Powers and Arvell Reese are heavier, weighing 242 pounds and 236 pounds, respectively.

Styles added 5 pounds this offseason, but his size was notable even before that.

“We’ve always joked about it,” Simon said, “because he's heavier than half the linebackers in the room.”

Added Knowles, “Sonny had to fight to stay lean as a DB. Now he gets to eat.”

As Styles settles in, the Buckeyes are eager for him to make an impact closer to the line of scrimmage, as he did as a sophomore last season as one of their top tacklers. His 53 tackles were the fifth-most on the team.

“Having him close to the line and being able to make plays,” safety Lathan Ransom said, “it gives us more opportunity to change the defense and do different things in the defense that maybe we weren't able to do last year. Wherever Sonny's going to play, he's going to be successful.”

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch and can be reached at jkaufman@dispatch.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football: Sonny Styles moves from safety to linebacker