As he monitored the NFL draft with his family at a rental house in Chandler on Saturday afternoon, Roy Lopez noticed that the Houston Texans were almost on the clock in the sixth round.
The Texans had been in contact with the Arizona Wildcats defensive tackle and his agent. Could this be it? A phone number with a Houston area code then popped up on Lopez’s phone.
“And the whole room got silent,” Lopez told the Houston media.
It turned out that the Texans’ interest was real. They selected Lopez with the 195th overall pick.
Lopez and about 70 family members cheered and cried. The rental house became a house of celebration. It was exactly how Lopez always had pictured it.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Lopez, a Tempe product who spent one season at Arizona after playing his first four years at New Mexico State. “It’s something that you think about as a kid, and you have no idea it’s coming until it’s coming.
“You put countless hours of work in, and it comes full circle. You look back on all the sacrifices you made and just know that it’s all worth it.”
Just as the news of Lopez’s selection was becoming public, another Wildcat came off the board with the very next pick.
The Giants selected UA tailback Gary Brightwell at No. 196.
“I didn’t think this was where I would end up,” Brightwell said in a video interview posted on the Giants’ website. “But I was happy when I ended up here because it’s close to home, and I know there’s a lot of guys on the Giants that are willing to work as hard as I am.”
Brightwell grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania. He has many Giants fans in his family, although his mother, Carla Young, wasn’t among them. That changed Saturday.
“My mom is an Eagles fan,” Brightwell said. “But obviously she’s gotta be one now.”
NFL scouts hadn’t been huge fans of Arizona’s pro prospects in recent years. Only four Wildcats had been picked in the previous six drafts. Then, in about a five-minute span, half that many were selected. It was the first time more than one UA player got taken in the same draft since 2016.
Lopez became the third Arizona player to be drafted by Houston, joining Earl Mitchell (2010) and Brooks Reed (2011). Brightwell was the first Wildcat picked by the Giants since defensive back Michael Johnson in 2007. Brightwell also was the first UA offensive player to be drafted since Ka’Deem Carey in 2014.
But offense wasn’t the first thing on Brightwell’s mind when he talked to the media. He’s prepared to do the dirty work on special teams to earn a roster spot. It was also the first thing Giants coach Joe Judge and the scouting department noticed about Brightwell during a 5:30 a.m. film session on a recent Saturday.
“We watched his kick game, and this dude was flying down the field,” Judge said. “It was early enough that it woke you up, and you really got excited about watching him.”
Brightwell played on multiple special-teams units at Arizona, served as a J.J. Taylor’s primary backup in 2018 and ’19 and became the Wildcats’ starting tailback last season. Brightwell finished his UA career with 1,305 rushing yards and nine touchdowns while averaging 5.3 yards per carry.
The Giants have a star tailback in Saquon Barkley, but the only established veteran behind him is Devontae Booker. Brightwell said he’s eager to dig into the playbook and learn from Barkley.
“I’m going to make him work. And for sure he’s gonna make me work,” said Brightwell, who grew up in a difficult environment and lost his father when he was a baby. “I just can’t wait to see how he approaches the day. Some guys have different ways. He can help me a lot, honestly.”
Lopez joins a Texans team that’s entering a rebuilding phase under new coach David Culley. Longtime defensive end J.J. Watt is now with the Cardinals. Lopez will be part of a defensive line group that includes 2020 second-round pick Ross Blacklock.
After a stellar career at New Mexico State, Lopez joined the UA program last summer as a graduate transfer. He became an immediate starter, recording 18 tackles, including four TFLs, in five games. Lopez also tested well at Arizona’s pro day in March.
He was asked where this moment — getting drafted by the Texans — ranked in his life.
“It’s No. 1,” Lopez said. “That’s a fact. I’m just blessed.”
Ex-Cat Fields picked
You could make a case that Arizona actually had three players picked Saturday.
Former UA linebacker Tony Fields II, who finished his college career at West Virginia, was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round. Fields, a starter at Arizona from 2017-19, came off the board with the 153rd overall pick.
“These last two days were the hardest two days of my life,” Fields told the Cleveland media. “All I’m thinking about is who I’m playing against, what quarterback I’m going to play with and what guys I’m gonna have to tackle.”
Fields started 37 consecutive games at Arizona, compiling 287 stops. Anticipating an abbreviated season in the Pac-12 because of the pandemic — if it was going to happen at all — Fields transferred to West Virginia last summer.
Fields became an immediate-impact player for the Mountaineers, registering 88 tackles in nine games to earn the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year award.
Fields (6-0, 232) is built similarly to Browns second-round pick Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (6-1½, 222) out of Notre Dame. Browns national scout Charles Walls referenced the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ speed on defense while discussing how Fields and Owusu-Koramoah could work together.
“When you watch these guys, I don’t think anyone would call them finesse players,” Walls said. “They do take on. They do hit. They seek out contact.”
“We’re both athletic linebackers,” Fields added. “That’s what the game is changing to.”
Burns to Cardinals
UA cornerback Lorenzo Burns wasn’t drafted, but he didn’t stay on the market for long.
Burns signed as a free agent with the Cardinals, where he will join longtime college teammate Jace Whittaker in the defensive backfield. Like Burns, Whittaker wasn’t picked last year. But he made the Cardinals roster and appeared in four games.
Burns started 40 games over five seasons for the Wildcats, recording 192 tackles, 35 pass breakups and nine interceptions.
