The Star is counting down the 11 most valuable Wildcats on the Arizona football team entering the 2019 season. Here’s the first installment.
The debate is an endlessly fascinating one: What does “most valuable” mean in the context of team sports?
We’re again taking a stab at it here in our annual preseason countdown of the most valuable players on the Arizona Wildcats football team.
Are these 11 young men the 11 best players on the squad? Not necessarily.
Factors that went into this ranking include not only on-field production but leadership, versatility and indispensability. How important are these players to the team? What would happen if they were hurt for a significant chunk of time?
Since it’s nearly impossible to predict how newcomers will fare, we limited the pool of candidates to returning players and early enrollees.
Before we begin, here are the five players who barely missed the cut: S Tristan Cooper, K Lucas Havrisik, OT Donovan Laie, DT Myles Tapusoa, S Scottie Young Jr.
Onto the countdown.
No. 11: LB Tony Fields II
Height/weight/year: 6-1, 230, junior
Key 2018 stats: 89 tackles. 4.5 TFLs, 2 sacks, 1 QB hit
Comment: Fields is as steady as they come.
Since arriving at Arizona in January 2017, he has started 25 straight games at weak-side linebacker. He has recorded at least six tackles in 18 of those contests and has reached double figures 11 times. In the brutally violent sport of football, that sort of reliability is hard to come by.
Fields actually suffered the first significant injury of his UA career last season, a banged-up shoulder against USC on Sept. 29. He failed to record a tackle for loss in that game or any of the next three. He rebounded down the stretch, compiling 3.5 TFLs, including two sacks, over the final four contests – offering a preview of what he’s capable of achieving as a junior.
Given his consistency and productivity – those 89 tackles ranked second on the team and were 33 clear of third-place Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles’ 56 – it’s fair to wonder why Fields isn’t higher on the list. There are a couple of reasons for that.
One is that Fields hasn’t made as many impact plays as he seems capable of making. He has only one interception in his career and hasn’t forced a fumble or recovered one. How much of that is a product of Arizona’s defensive system is unclear.
The second factor is that Fields has a more-than-capable backup in Anthony Pandy, who might be just as productive if he played the same number of snaps as his classmate. Pandy actually has generated TFLs at a significantly higher clip than Fields. Pandy has recorded a TFL on 16.2% of his total tackles; Fields is at 6.3%. Pandy’s rate is almost on par with that of star MLB Colin Schooler, who’s at 16.4%.
Fields has started ahead of Pandy and played the lion’s share of the snaps because he was ready from Day 1. Fields made a seamless transition from Las Vegas’ Desert Pines High School and was able to play fast right away. Pandy, meanwhile, needed a little more time to feel fully comfortable with college football.
Fields also took on a leadership role from the get-go. Whether the Wildcats won or lost – whether the defense played well or poorly – Fields regularly served as a postgame spokesman for the unit. He did that as a true freshman.
Schooler assumed much of that burden last season, which made sense given his duties as the defense’s quarterback. Those postgame media sessions are one of the rare times Schooler and Fields aren’t together. They’re virtually inseparable, and that’s another reason Fields earned a spot on this list.
The chemistry between Schooler and Fields is palpable and undoubtedly helps them perform on the field. Would Schooler be able to take as many chances as he does if he wasn’t sure Fields had his back?
Communication is critical to defensive success. Entering their third seasons as starting linebackers, Schooler and Fields have an almost telepathic connection. It’s hard to envision one without the other, just as it’s hard to picture the UA defense without Fields flying around near its epicenter.
