Wesley Fields sat back on media day and in a lackadaisical way fielded questions from whoever asked them. Reporters from all sorts of different mediums interrogated the senior running back about the direction the offense is heading, his thoughts on the new coaching staff and his new role as the leading back.

But through all of the cliche responses, Fields lit up in his answers about the class of 2018.

“Some of the freshmen come in, they’ve got the big head and think they’re all that,” Fields said. “But this class, they weren’t like that. They were really just eager to learn and trying to figure out ways to help us win.”

But this was expected. After all, the “NewEra18” was ranked the top recruiting class in the Sun Belt with 11 3-star recruits.

Fields was still elated to see freshmen respond in a similar way that he did three years ago. As a true freshman, Fields had nearly 700 yards and seven touchdowns in the 2015 season.

To capitalize the outstanding first-year campaign, Fields was honored with the GoDaddy Bowl offensive MVP for his 92 total yard and one touchdown victory over Bowling Green.

Fields alluded that the same kind of success was possible for several of these freshmen, highlighting three in particular.

“C.J. Wright, we’re really trying to keep him under the radar because that’s a young bull, for real,” Fields said. “Zyon McGee, Andrew Cunningham we have a couple of guys that have some good mileage on them.”

Wright is a local talent from Screven County who made quite the presence on Twitter Monday.

{{tncms-inline account=”Matt Greenhalgh” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Freshmen Squat Eval ✅600 x <a href="https://twitter.com/CJ_WRIGHT_21?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CJ_WRIGHT_21</a> ✅<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GATA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GATA</a> ✅ <a href="https://t.co/LEjHzGbyd0">pic.twitter.com/LEjHzGbyd0</a></p>— Matt Greenhalgh (@Strength_MJG) <a href="https://twitter.com/Strength_MJG/status/1021450358437052416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2018</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/Strength_MJG/status/1021450358437052416″ type=”twitter”}}

The nose tackle is an athletic freak who will provide both depth and competition to an often overlooked position that is currently being owned by redshirt-senior Ian Bush.

There is so much youth at outside linebacker that if Zyon McGee is able to do what he’s done in his highlight reel, then he just might start September first. Mcgee is certainly the smallest of the bunch, but his skill is just as prevalent as the rest.

Coming into signing day, Andrew Cunningham was the biggest name. The last minute commit made headlines as an out-of-state three-star beast. Cunningham has the ability to, quite literally, run over people and in a year with an inexperienced backfield, Cunningham should see playing time behind Fields and Monteo Garrett.

“When I first came in my freshman year, a lot of the old heads spoke about the tradition but they also demonstrated and showed it daily,” Fields said. “The more we saw it, the more my class and the other classes started doing it ourselves.”

Now four years later, Fields, along with the rest of the class of 2019, has the opportunity to show the freshmen how its done. He has already stepped into his role as a leader on and off the field, which is what head coach Chad Lunsford has preached all off-season. 

“With the freshmen coming in, it’s easy for somebody to talk a big game,” Fields said. “If you show a big game as well as talk a big game then it gives a better feel for the freshmen and then they understand the tradition and how we operate at Georgia Southern.”

McClain Baxley, The George-Anne Sports Editor, gasports@georgiasouthern.edu