Countdown to IUFB Kickoff: 19 Days (Tony Fields and Jonah Morris)

Written By Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

#19

We are out of the 20’s and before you know it we will be hitting single digits as the biggest home opener in IU Football history is creeping closer with 19 days to go. Today we double-dip by taking a look at both players who will be wearing number 19 for the Hoosiers in 2017, safety Tony Fields and wide receiver Jonah Morris. 

Tony Fields (Senior)

-Height: 5’11”

-Weight: 205 lbs

-Hometown: Tallahassee, Florida

-Position: Safety

Senior safety Tony Fields has appeared in all 38 games in his three seasons in Bloomington and assumed the full-time free safety position last season as Chase Dutra dealt with injuries.

Fields played as a true freshman in 2014 and made 14 tackles and broke up a pass. His best game came in Indiana’s upset win over then-number 18 Missouri when he made four stops and broke up a pass.

As a sophomore, Fields’ production increased, and he once again proved durable in playing in all 13 games that season. He totaled 19 tackles and returned an interception for a touchdown in a 31-24 win at Wake Forest.

Last season Fields was a big part of Indiana’s vast improvement on defense as he started all 13 games alongside Jonathan Crawford. He was fifth on the team in tackles and picked off two passes and took home Defensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts against Penn State.

In 2017 the Hoosiers will count on Fields to continue his strong play during his final go-around in Bloomington. He is once again slated to be the starter at free safety alongside Crawford, but should be on the field a little less as Chase Dutra could spell Field or Crawford at any time. The next step for this senior is to turn some more of his pass break ups into interceptions and continue to be an extremely important part of this very deep and talented secondary.

Jonah Morris (Redshirt Freshman)

-Height: 6’4”

-Weight: 200 lbs

-Hometown: Akron, Ohio

-Position: Wide Receiver

The 19 on the other side of the ball is Jonah Morris, a six-foot-four redshirt freshman wide out who had a stellar high school career at Archbishop Hoban in Akron, Ohio. Morris came into IU with extremely high expectations as the top-rated athlete in the Midwest according to Scout.com. However, Morris redshirted in 2016 and will look to breakout in 2017 after earning Scout Team Player of the Week during practices leading up to the Bucket Game.

Indiana wide receiver coach Grant Heard talked this week about how he doesn’t have the size that he wants at the receiver position. Well, Morris can bring more of that size to the group if he can fight his way up the talented depth chart. He has shown flashes in practice, but needs to get more consistent with his play if he wants to fight off the incoming freshman and the rest of the wide outs battling for playing time.