The only difference between New York Giants rookie receiver Malachi Fields and Terrell Owens is 1,078 career receptions, 15,934 receiving yards, 153 touchdowns, six Pro Bowls, five first-team All-Pros, and a Hall of Fame Gold Jacket. Other than that, you almost can't tell the two apart.
In all seriousness, Fields and Owens do have similar builds, and they play a very similar brand of football. Fields comes in around 6-foot-4 and 218 pounds, while Owens was listed at around 6-foot-3 and 224 pounds during his playing days.
They're both physical receivers on the field, though the Hall of Famer remains arguably the most physically imposing wideout to ever play the game, so Fields has his work cut out for him. But apparently Big Blue's third-round pick has already made some headway.
Despite the enormous gap in their resumes, Giants cornerback Paulson Adebo sees shades of Owens in the rookie's game -- which is freaking awesome. The 27-year-old corner spoke with the media after Tuesday's practice and was asked what it's been like squaring up with the former Notre Dame standout at training camp.
Paulson Adebo sees something special in Giants rookie Malachi Fields
Adebo didn't hold back, offering a glowing review of the soon-to-be 23-year-old:
"He's a big receiver, but he also has some speed to him as well, so he reminds me of kind of those old school, traditional, like (former NFL wide receiver) Terrell Owens type that can go up and get the ball but also has the speed to kind of break away from you, if need be, so he's been great this whole offseason."
First, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler was Plaxico Burress; now it's Terrell Owens. If this pattern continues, his next comparison will be Randy Moss -- and I am here for it.
If he's going to come remotely close to that kind of legacy, Fields will have to overcome his moderate production at Notre Dame and a rather underwhelming testing performance that raised questions about his speed. Even still, players like Fields don't typically last until the third round.
He's currently somewhere between the WR3.5 and WR5 spots. If I were a betting man, I'd say he's currently occupying the WR4 slot. Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton are the starters on the outside, while the gaggle of Odell Beckham Jr., Calvin Austin III, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Braxton Berrios battle it out in the slot.
So if Fields wants to take snaps away from Slayton -- and let's face it, Slayton's spot isn't exactly a mortal lock -- Fields has to rely on his size. Leaning heavily into the aggressive, T.O.-style bully-ball is his golden ticket to forcing his way onto the field.
The good news is we're already seeing it happen in real time. The former Fighting Irishman has spent the entire offseason making ridiculous, you-got-Mossed-level catches over the smaller defensive backs look routine. There’s an opening for a big, physical outside receiver, and Fields is slowly but surely making a case to fill it.
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