Throw everything you thought you knew about the New York Giants' wide receiver battle out the window because Malachi Fields is blowing it to kingdom come at training camp. Anyone who thought the rookie out of Notre Dame was going to sit back and wait his turn in this crowded Giants receiver room hasn't been paying attention to training camp.
The 6-foot-4, 218-pound specimen showed up at The Greenbrier with a clear mission to steal a larger role. He has been busy making defensive backs look silly and forcing head coach John Harbaugh's hand with every single practice.
Harbaugh wanted to inject some size and physical nastiness into his new-look offense, and the takeover is happening in real time. The soon-to-be 23-year-old is playing like he’s got an "I should have been drafted earlier" chip on his shoulder, turning 50-50 balls into 90-10s and giving his quarterback Jaxson Dart the kind of physical outside target this team has been missing for years.
Malachi Fields is forcing his way into the Giants' WR2 slot
The rookie's unexpected camp explosion has changed everything about what was supposed to be a veteran-laden dogfight at the position.
As our friend Dan Duggan of The Athletic perfectly laid out the current state of affairs:
"The top wide receivers on the depth chart are Slayton, Malik Nabers, Malachi Fields, Darnell Mooney, Calvin Austin, Odell Beckham Jr., Braxton Berrios and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Nabers is obviously the No. 1 receiver, and Fields has started to make strides toward claiming the No. 2 role."
That's a lot of names, but Fields is doing his best Frogger impression. Instead of getting buried behind guys like Darnell Mooney, Calvin Austin III, and Odell Beckham Jr., the third-rounder is quietly moving ahead of them. With Darius Slayton and JuJu Smith-Schuster both missing time during camp with minor injuries, Fields took advantage of the first-team reps.
He looks more like a power forward than a receiver, drawing Plaxico Burress comparisons from Giants fans to ESPN analysts. His route running looks good for a guy his size -- he can separate before he even has to use his size to bring in a catch.
Aside from his consistency, the best part of his camp run came during the final team drills, where he ruled the red zone. He hauled in two red-area touchdowns during one-on-one drills.
Harbaugh wants to be a run-heavy team, meaning receiver snaps behind undisputed WR1 Malik Nabers are going to be hard to come by. But Fields is making sure any excess snaps go to him by blocking in the run game and making plays when the ball comes his way -- he's been doing it all offseason.
If he keeps this up in the preseason, it’s going to be awfully difficult to put anyone else ahead of him.
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