KEY PERSONNEL CB: D.J. Brown, Tariq
Castro-Fields*, Keaton Ellis, Trent Gor-
don, Donovan Johnson, Joey Porter Jr.,
John Reid*, Marquis Wilson; Saf.: Jaquan
Brisker, John Petrishen, Tyler Rudolph,
Jonathan Sutherland*, Garrett Taylor*,
Lamont Wade
LOSSES CB: Jabari Butler, Zech McP-
hearson, Jordan Miner, Amani
Oruwariye*; Saf.: Isaiah Humphries,
Ayron Monroe, Nick Scott*
RISING STAR Ellis has been on the rise
ever since his senior season at State Col-
lege Area High. He had been injured as a
junior and missed a portion of the sea-
son, but he was healthy again during his
senior year, posting big numbers (51
tackles, nine pass de=ections, four in-
terceptions, three fumble recoveries)
and improving from a three- to a four-
star recruit according to Rivals.com.
That upswing continued during his >
cause I approached last season like I
was a starter," he said. "Especially to-
ward the end of the year, I was playing
a
lot of reps, so my mentality is no dif-
ferent. I think the only thing that will be
different is that I'm one of the older
guys in our room, and we have a lot of
young guys who need mentorship and
leadership."
It's the nature of college football that
players are sometimes asked to go from
understudies to starters, from raw un-
derclassmen to veteran leaders, seem-
ingly overnight. In Castro-Fields' case,
at least, the transition
has been a bit more
gradual. On the field,
seeing spot duty in
nearly every game as a
true freshman, and
then starting those
three games last fall,
he's had the chance to
get comfortable with
the speed of the game
without being thrown
to the wolves. Just as
important, he's had
time to adapt off the
field. As one of a hand-
ful of true freshmen to
see substantial playing time in 2017, he
said he "tried to lead our freshman class
as much as I could."
In the context of the entire team, of
course, it was more important that Cas-
tro-Fields learned the right examples to
follow. And that's exactly what he did.
"One of the first guys who really took
me under their wing was Christian
Campbell," he said of the senior corner-
back on the 2017 squad who was later
drafted by the Arizona Cardinals. "I
tried to bug him as much as I could –
what was I doing wrong, what could I do
better. And then last year, Amani was
the guy I was close to and really leaned
on."
Castro-Fields singles out the ball
skills of Oruwariye, a 2019 pick of the
Detroit Lions, as a strength he's worked
to emulate. But he said those mentors
offered a shared example: "Both of them
had a businesslike mentality when it
came to practice and film study, so I
learned how to take it seriously but at
the same time have fun."
For
all the lessons gleaned from older
teammates, Castro-Fields' most im-
portant lessons have come on the field.
He cites the Appalachian State game
last year, when he had to bounce back
from giving up a big play during the
Mountaineers' second-half air on-
slaught to make a key late stop. But
asked about other moments that stick
out, he cites two, from a pair of very
difficult losses. The first was the White
Out matchup with
Ohio State, and the
frustration of not being
able to finish a game
the Lions believed they
should have won. "It's
knowing you have to
play 70, 80 plays like
every one of them is
your last down," he
said.
The other came in
January, in the Lions'
27-24 Citrus Bowl loss
to Kentucky. It was a
disappointing ending to
a season that had
promised better, but for Castro-Fields,
it provided a positive springboard into
2019. "I just went out to have fun and
play loose," he said, "and I had one of
my best games."
He will go into his third season of col-
lege ball knowing that he's part of a
unit with elite potential – "I feel like we
have all the parts, and that if we go in
and work, we can be as good as we want
to be," he said – and hearing assess-
ments that his own potential is sky-
high, as well. Of the latter, needless to
say, Castro-Fields isn't assuming any-
thing.
"I think as long as I take care of the
work – train as hard as I can, work on
my technique, watch film – everything
I want to achieve will come," he said.
"But I'm not thinking too much about
that. I just want to keep leading this
team, get my degree, and make my mom
proud."
■
I don't think my
mentality is too
much di2erent, just
because I approached
last season like I was
a starter. Especially
toward the end of the
year, I was playing a
lot of reps, so my
mentality is no
di2erent.
"
"
