Malachi Fields named to PFF's Rookie Team of the Week
PFF named the Giants receiver one of three rookie wide receivers to its Week 1 honor roll, citing the touchdown catch from his preseason debut against Minnesota.
Pro Football Focus included Giants wide receiver Malachi Fields on its Preseason Week 1 Rookie Team of the Week in an article published Aug. 17.
The team recognizes standout rookie performances by position from the preseason's opening weekend. PFF named three wide receivers to the group: Dallas's Camden Brown, Fields and Pittsburgh's Kaden Wetjen.
Fields ran 11 routes and caught all three passes thrown to him for 34 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown, in the Giants' 13-10 loss to Minnesota on Aug. 15. PFF gave him an overall grade of 90.4, third-highest of the three receivers named, behind Brown's 91.5 and ahead of Wetjen's 88.0.
"The 74th overall pick, Malachi Fields, ran only 11 routes but moved the chains three times," PFF's Daire Carragher wrote. "That included an impressive contested touchdown catch on a scramble drill, a play he executed with the awareness of an established veteran."
The touchdown came on a broken play. Jaxson Dart was pressured, left the pocket and threw to the back of the end zone, where Fields went up over linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. for the catch.
Dart praised Fields's ability to win contested catches in his postgame media availability, per Giants.com. "That was a big thing that I love about Malachi's tape coming out [of college] — was his ability to go make contested catches," Dart said. "I feel like he's a player that regardless of what route that he's on, just from his range and stature and his ability to have really good hands that he's never really out of a play. And he loves the game, he competes through the whistle."