Time stopped when Malachi Fields left his feet to catch a dig route over the middle of the field.
“It was like he was just levitating,” safety Jason Pinnock said, recalling Fields’ standout introductory reception during spring practice. “I was kind of just waiting for him to come down. He’s a freak athlete. If I had to say one glaring thing, it’s his ball skills.”
The 6-foot-4 rookie is responsible for a few 40-yard catches during training camp, but he has shown a more expansive route tree than just tracking go-balls since he joined the Giants as a third-round pick.
Veterans Darius Slayton, Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin have the inside track to be the Giants’ top complementary options to No. 1 receiver Malik Nabers when the season begins. But it might not be long before Fields is pushing for more targets from Jaxson Dart and using his physicality to perimeter block for the running backs.
“The playbook comes easy to him so we can really focus on what happens after the snap rather than before,” receivers coach Chad Hall said. “That’s really beneficial to coach because I’m not teaching the white-board stuff. He’s gotten better from the snap to the release to the top of the routes. He’s a big guy who can bend well. We’re just trying to get him to bend more, play lower.”
Fields will make his NFL preseason debut Saturday against the Vikings in front of his parents, wife and son. Teammates recognize that he is champing at the bit to be competitive again.
“He has a great rapport with Jaxson,” backup quarterback Jameis Winston said. “He’s curious about what is required to be the best. And I think when you have that mindset, when you focus on what you love, it’s a setup for success.”
The Giants tied for No. 11 in 20-yard receptions (52) and tied for No. 5 (11) in 40-yard receptions last season despite an injured Nabers missing the final 13 games.
Malachi Fields extends to make a catch during Giants training camp practice on Aug. 13, 2026 in East Rutherford, N.J. Corey Sipkin for New York Post
Pint-sized speedster Wan’Dale Robinson, who was responsible for the bulk of those chunk plays, left for the Titans in free agency, and now the galloping Fields is flashing a different way to get downfield.
But what could make Fields different than 2023 third-round pick Jalin Hyatt — a much-hyped deep threat who is on the wrong side of the roster bubble after three touchdown-less seasons — is an underappreciated ability to make plays at the second level of the defense.
“The big plays are fun, but there’s more that goes into it — the blocking that you don’t see, the third-and-4 conversions, all that stuff,” Fields said. “I think [my other routes] are starting to get recognized a little more. Just being able to get in and out of breaks, run those shorter routes, those possession catches 5 or 10 yards down the field instead of those 50-yard bombs.”
Hall said that Fields — a product of Virginia and Notre Dame who averaged 17.5 yards per catch last season — showed up with “technique issues” and immediately got to work fixing those. A few limited practices early in training camp due to an undisclosed injury didn’t slow his progress.
“The biggest word for him since he’s been here is ‘growth,’ ” Hall said. “He spent a ton of time over the summer really tuning his game. He’s a big guy who can hold the red line downfield and give the quarterback space. He’s long and he’s not afraid to go up and get it. The quarterbacks have some confidence in that as well. He’s earned it every day he’s been here.”
Fields is adopting skills like how to take care of his body, film study and different route-running maneuvers from the veterans in his position group. But having a 222-pound body to use as a box-out weapon on defensive backs can’t be replicated.
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“When you try to just bully some down the field, it doesn’t always work,” Fields said. “[Officials] are going to throw a flag or say we were both fighting so there’s no flag and it’s still incomplete. So, it’s working your feet, working your release and then using your body at the top and adding that in with a tempo in your route. That’s when you really create more separation — for me, personally, being that bigger guy.”