WVU’s Stills, Fields Poised for NFL Draft Weekend
April 29, 2021 12:00 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It looks like Saturday is probably going to be the day for West Virginia University football players Darius Stills and Tony Fields II, based on the NFL Draft lists and mock drafts that have been circulating this week.
But when it comes to professional drafts, anything can happen.
Just ask West Virginia's Kysre Gondrezick, a projected third-round pick in this year's WNBA Draft who wound up going No. 4 overall to the Indiana Fever.
All it takes is one team to like you, and what's not to like about Stills and Fields?
Stills became the 12th consensus All-American in WVU history in 2020, primarily because he was able to thrive despite being constantly double- and triple-teamed for the better part of his last two college seasons. In 43 games over four years, the Fairmont native generated 25 ½ tackles for losses, 11 ½ sacks, a pair of pass breakups, an interception and a forced fumble.
The game Stills played against Baylor in 2019 will certainly be remembered by Matt Rhule, now coach of the Carolina Panthers. He watched his Baylor offensive linemen struggle to block him for an entire game.
Here were Rhule's unsolicited comments about Darius afterward: "I want to make sure I say this … 56 (Darius) is one of the best players we've played against. I said that coming in. I told you people, 'Hey, this kid 56, he's everything that I thought he was going to be, and 55 (Dante) his brother … lights out. Some people say the Big 12 D-linemen … that's the thing that's out there … well, watch 56 because he gets everybody. I love him."
Stills also demonstrated a commitment to his teammates and a love of the game by playing in last December's Liberty Bowl against Army. He had absolutely nothing to gain and a great deal to lose by facing an Army option offense that doesn't translate to the pro game.
Stills admitted he was taking a big risk by playing in the game.
"If we would have played a regular team, it wouldn't have been such a difficult decision, and the way Army plays, cutting you, it was a difficult decision," he admitted after last month's Pro Day. "But I just wanted to go out there and ball with my teammates."
And that is exactly what an NFL team that chooses to draft Stills is going to get – a baller.
West Virginia fans in 2020 found out linebacker Tony Fields II is a baller, too. The Las Vegas resident started 37 career games at Arizona, generating 287 tackles, 17 tackles for losses, 8 ½ sacks, six pass breakups and a pair of interceptions against Pac 12 teams.
He transferred to West Virginia last summer and made an immediate impact with 10 tackles in the season opener Eastern Kentucky. He went on to lead the Mountaineers with 88 total tackles, and his value to the team was demonstrated in the Texas Tech loss when he missed most of the game because of a second-quarter targeting penalty.
Fields earned All-Big 12 honors and finished No. 1 in the league averaging 9.8 tackles per game in 2020. He showed his impressive versatility at WVU by playing middle linebacker after spending three seasons playing outside linebacker at Arizona.
West Virginia coach Neal Brown has one simple message that he delivers to all of his players with professional aspirations – give them reasons to say yes.
"It's a process of elimination," he explained last month. "Scouts are looking for reasons to say no, and you cannot supply any reasons to say no. Talent is a piece of it. Production is a piece, character, and then what is your trajectory? How does your game translate to the National Football League where everybody is elite?"
With Stills and Fields, that remains to be seen.
According to NFL.com's draft breakdown, both received grades that could earn them roster spots by the end of training camp. Stills' primary strengths were his motor and energy "that jumps off the tape."
His other attributes included:
* First-step quickness with ability to get skinny in the gap
* Drives through block redirection with natural leverage
* Enough pop to knock blockers off-balance when he's braced up
* Controlled quickness with interior footwork around blockers
* Decent read-and-react awareness of play flow
* Effective arm over and hand swipes to work around block
* Active pass rusher with feet that keeping looking for edges
* Great feel to slither through B-gap on T/E twists
And here were Tony Fields' primary strengths, according to NFL.com:
* Good patience in diagnosing run play development.
* Rarely makes ill-advised charges into traffic.
* Scrapes with pads squared to the action.
* Reads and anticipates cut-back lanes from second level.
* Able to sidestep blocks and work back to the ball-carrier.
* Productive tackler in all four seasons.
* Capable blitzer with instinctive angles of pursuit.
CBS Sports has Fields going in the fifth round and Stills in the sixth round in its most recent mock draft. The Sporting News has Stills rated the 11th-best defensive tackle and Fields the 15th-best middle linebacker in this year's draft.
ESPN.com has both players among its top 300 NFL Draft prospects.
There are 259 total picks over seven rounds in this year's draft, which begins with tonight's first round in Cleveland, Ohio. ABC, ESPN and NFL Network will have live television coverage beginning at 8 p.m.
Rounds two and three will take place Friday night at 7 p.m., with the remaining four rounds occurring Saturday starting at noon.
West Virginia had two players taken in last year's draft (Kenny Robinson and Colton McKivitz) after seeing five players picked in 2019. Since joining the Big 12 Conference in 2012, the Mountaineers have had 24 players hear their names called, including first-rounders Tavon Austin, Kevin White and Karl Joseph.
Since the NFL Draft began in 1936, 179 Mountaineer players have been selected.
Mountaineer players who could potentially sign free agent deals after the draft include offensive linemen Michael Brown and Chase Behrndt, wide receiver T.J. Simmons and long snapper Kyle Poland.
But when it comes to professional drafts, anything can happen.
Just ask West Virginia's Kysre Gondrezick, a projected third-round pick in this year's WNBA Draft who wound up going No. 4 overall to the Indiana Fever.
All it takes is one team to like you, and what's not to like about Stills and Fields?
Stills became the 12th consensus All-American in WVU history in 2020, primarily because he was able to thrive despite being constantly double- and triple-teamed for the better part of his last two college seasons. In 43 games over four years, the Fairmont native generated 25 ½ tackles for losses, 11 ½ sacks, a pair of pass breakups, an interception and a forced fumble.
The game Stills played against Baylor in 2019 will certainly be remembered by Matt Rhule, now coach of the Carolina Panthers. He watched his Baylor offensive linemen struggle to block him for an entire game.
Here were Rhule's unsolicited comments about Darius afterward: "I want to make sure I say this … 56 (Darius) is one of the best players we've played against. I said that coming in. I told you people, 'Hey, this kid 56, he's everything that I thought he was going to be, and 55 (Dante) his brother … lights out. Some people say the Big 12 D-linemen … that's the thing that's out there … well, watch 56 because he gets everybody. I love him."
Stills also demonstrated a commitment to his teammates and a love of the game by playing in last December's Liberty Bowl against Army. He had absolutely nothing to gain and a great deal to lose by facing an Army option offense that doesn't translate to the pro game.
Stills admitted he was taking a big risk by playing in the game.
"If we would have played a regular team, it wouldn't have been such a difficult decision, and the way Army plays, cutting you, it was a difficult decision," he admitted after last month's Pro Day. "But I just wanted to go out there and ball with my teammates."
And that is exactly what an NFL team that chooses to draft Stills is going to get – a baller.
West Virginia fans in 2020 found out linebacker Tony Fields II is a baller, too. The Las Vegas resident started 37 career games at Arizona, generating 287 tackles, 17 tackles for losses, 8 ½ sacks, six pass breakups and a pair of interceptions against Pac 12 teams.
He transferred to West Virginia last summer and made an immediate impact with 10 tackles in the season opener Eastern Kentucky. He went on to lead the Mountaineers with 88 total tackles, and his value to the team was demonstrated in the Texas Tech loss when he missed most of the game because of a second-quarter targeting penalty.
Fields earned All-Big 12 honors and finished No. 1 in the league averaging 9.8 tackles per game in 2020. He showed his impressive versatility at WVU by playing middle linebacker after spending three seasons playing outside linebacker at Arizona.
West Virginia coach Neal Brown has one simple message that he delivers to all of his players with professional aspirations – give them reasons to say yes.
"It's a process of elimination," he explained last month. "Scouts are looking for reasons to say no, and you cannot supply any reasons to say no. Talent is a piece of it. Production is a piece, character, and then what is your trajectory? How does your game translate to the National Football League where everybody is elite?"
With Stills and Fields, that remains to be seen.
According to NFL.com's draft breakdown, both received grades that could earn them roster spots by the end of training camp. Stills' primary strengths were his motor and energy "that jumps off the tape."
His other attributes included:
* First-step quickness with ability to get skinny in the gap
* Drives through block redirection with natural leverage
* Enough pop to knock blockers off-balance when he's braced up
* Controlled quickness with interior footwork around blockers
* Decent read-and-react awareness of play flow
* Effective arm over and hand swipes to work around block
* Active pass rusher with feet that keeping looking for edges
* Great feel to slither through B-gap on T/E twists
And here were Tony Fields' primary strengths, according to NFL.com:
* Good patience in diagnosing run play development.
* Rarely makes ill-advised charges into traffic.
* Scrapes with pads squared to the action.
* Reads and anticipates cut-back lanes from second level.
* Able to sidestep blocks and work back to the ball-carrier.
* Productive tackler in all four seasons.
* Capable blitzer with instinctive angles of pursuit.
CBS Sports has Fields going in the fifth round and Stills in the sixth round in its most recent mock draft. The Sporting News has Stills rated the 11th-best defensive tackle and Fields the 15th-best middle linebacker in this year's draft.
ESPN.com has both players among its top 300 NFL Draft prospects.
There are 259 total picks over seven rounds in this year's draft, which begins with tonight's first round in Cleveland, Ohio. ABC, ESPN and NFL Network will have live television coverage beginning at 8 p.m.
Rounds two and three will take place Friday night at 7 p.m., with the remaining four rounds occurring Saturday starting at noon.
West Virginia had two players taken in last year's draft (Kenny Robinson and Colton McKivitz) after seeing five players picked in 2019. Since joining the Big 12 Conference in 2012, the Mountaineers have had 24 players hear their names called, including first-rounders Tavon Austin, Kevin White and Karl Joseph.
Since the NFL Draft began in 1936, 179 Mountaineer players have been selected.
Mountaineer players who could potentially sign free agent deals after the draft include offensive linemen Michael Brown and Chase Behrndt, wide receiver T.J. Simmons and long snapper Kyle Poland.
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