Penn State’s Castro-Fields looks to rebound in the fall
Tariq Castro-Fields looked like one of the nation’s best cornerbacks in the first month of last season, breaking up passes and making stops in the running game.
Then in the first quarter against Purdue, Penn State’s fifth game of the year, he suffered an injury to his arm or shoulder. He wasn’t the same player the rest of the way.
“Of course it was a frustrating process,” Castro-Fields said this week, “but the coaches had a plan for me and I tried to do the best I could.
“It was kind of frustrating, but Coach (James) Franklin preaches that you’ve got to do only what you can control. That was my main focus. I’m fully healthy now.”
Castro-Fields, a senior, is the Lions’ most experienced cornerback, a team leader and possibly a high draft pick next year, if he stays healthy and plays like he did early last season.
“I think I was just playing with a lot of confidence and being physical (then),” he said. “I thought I knew the defense really well, which allowed me to play fast.”
Castro-Fields, a four-star recruit from Upper Marlboro, Md., chose the Nittany Lions over Maryland and Alabama. He played in 12 games as a true freshman in 2017 and in every game as a sophomore, when he made three starts and broke up eight passes.
He was on his way to a breakout junior season when he suffered the injury. He did play well in a 28-21 victory over Michigan two weeks later, making eight tackles, an interception and a pass breakup, but his performance slipped after that.
In Penn State’s final six games, Castro-Fields broke up just two passes, both at Michigan State.
He was held out of the regular season finale against Rutgers because of the injury and didn’t play well against Memphis in the Cotton Bowl.
“His season last year was almost like two different seasons,” Lions cornerbacks coach Terry Smith said. “The first half of the season, he came out of the gate looking like a first-round draft pick . ... Then he suffered an injury. From that injury on, he was a different player. He wasn’t as confident and he wasn’t as sure of himself.”
Smith expects Castro-Fields to be the leader among the cornerbacks, who include Donovan Johnson, who missed most of last season with a hand or wrist injury; sophomores Keaton Ellis and Marquis Wilson, who played well as reserves last season; and redshirt freshmen Daequan Hardy and Joey Porter Jr.
“I think the talent kind of is better now just across the board,” Castro-Fields said. “I think everyone can compete, so I think it’s more about the kind of competition in the room that can raise everyone’s game.”
Ellis, Wilson, Hardy and Porter were part of the Lions’ recruiting class in 2019.
“Marquis is already a confident guy, so that little confidence (he got last year) is going to take his game to the next level,” Castro-Fields said. “Keaton is just all-around sturdy. He can do everything in my book. He plays the inside and outside.
“But that class overall with Daequan and Joey, they’re going to be nice. They’re going to be able to take over when I leave.”
Even though the media voted Casto-Fields to the All-Big Ten third team, he knows he can play much better. Smith said he expects him to be the shutdown cornerback that every team needs.