Malachi Fields

Former wide receiver at Notre Dame. 2025: 36 catches, 630 receiving yards, 5 TD.

WR · Notre Dame · Sr.

6′4″ · 223 lb · Charlottesville, VA

CFB Index 56 · #167 of 485 WRsHigh confidenceDrafted by New York — Rd 3, Pick 10, #74 overall

How he plays

Beats you over the top.

Yards / catch: 97th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

630

receiving yards · 2025

36 catches · 5 TD · 17.5 per catch

Backed by 11 rec · 148 yds -- top 1% catches game.

Swing playSwung Notre Dame from 44% to 65% to win.Navy at Notre Dame · 49-10

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former wide receiver at Notre Dame. 2025: 36 catches, 630 receiving yards, 5 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Virginia in 2021.
Transferred from Virginia to Notre Dame in 2025.
Drafted round 3 by the New York in 2026.

The full story, with sources

How it ended

Five seasons at Notre Dame, 2,479 receiving yards — drafted at #74 overall by New York.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

The week the volume broke through — put up 148 yds at Wake Forest.Wake Forest · W 31-302024

20217 games

Signed with Virginia3-star out of Monticello

202412 games

All-ACCthird

202512 games

Entered the portal

2026

Drafted by New Yorkround 3, pick 74

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1763 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2021–2025

NFL

NFL Draft

R3 · #74

New York · 2026

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

1 honor

🎖

ALL-ACC

All-ACC mention (2024)

Coaching lineage · 2021–2025

2 coaches

2021

Brian Kelly

Notre Dame

2022–2025

Marcus Freeman

Notre Dame

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Brian Kelly → Marcus Freeman. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

New York2026 NFL rookie season

#74Rd 3 · Pick 10

New York2026 NFL rookie season

View college career stats ↓

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Virginia6-6HC: Bronco Mendenhall · Pass-heavy

2022Virginia3-7HC: Tony Elliott · Balanced

2023Virginia3-9HC: Tony Elliott · Run-leaning

2024Virginia5-7HC: Tony Elliott · Balanced

2025Notre Dame10-2HC: Marcus Freeman · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

56Quality starter #167 of 485?

High confidence11 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: yards / catch (97th percentile). Strength: explosive rate (94th percentile). Concern: catch rate (7th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / catch#28 / 798 · 97th pct

17.6

Explosive rate#47 / 798 · 94th pct

20.3%

TD rate#286 / 798 · 64th pct

3.4%

EPA / target#325 / 798 · 59th pct

0.48

Catch rate#744 / 798 · 7th pct

52.5%

Box-score rates (6)

Yards / catch#35 / 558 · 94th pct

17.5

Long catch#117 / 558 · 79th pct

Rec TDs#96 / 558 · 78th pct

Rec yards#134 / 558 · 76th pct

630

Receptions#218 / 558 · 60th pct

Fumbles lost#86 / 218 · 36th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

85th → 59th percentile

Explosive rate

60th → 94th percentile

Catch rate

55th → 7th percentile

TD rate

47th → 64th percentile

Yards / catch

62nd → 97th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

27%16 of his 59 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	2.6	48.1	18.7	0.3
Road5g	3.6	58.6	17.5	0.6

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.0	56.5	20.9	0.3
Weeks 8+6g	3.0	48.5	15.5	0.5

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Marcus Freeman

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

56 · #167 of 485 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #167 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Notre Dame	36	630	17.5	5	--
2024	Virginia	55	808	14.7	5	--
2023	Virginia	58	811	14.0	5	--
2022	Virginia	5	58	11.6	1	--
2021	Virginia	11	172	15.6	0	--
Career		165	2,479	15.0	16	--

Season	Team
2025	Notre Dame	--	--	--	--	--
2024	Virginia	--	--	--	--	--
2023	Virginia	1	-6	--	--	--
2022	Virginia	--	--	--	--	--
2021	Virginia	--	--	--	--	--
Career		1	-6	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2025

W 34–24

vs USC

1 rec · 9 yds

With J. Price — 87 rush yds (13 car) · 1 TD · J. Love — 228 rush yds (24 car) · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 10 · Boston College · 4&6 · Q2 · EPA +5.61CJ Carr pass to M. Fields for 40 yds, for a TD
Week 4 · Purdue · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +5.34CJ Carr pass complete to Malachi Fields for 66 yds for a TD (Erik Schmidt KICK)
Week 5 · Arkansas · 4&10 · Q3 · EPA +4.31Jordan Faison pass complete to Malachi Fields for 40 yds to the ARK 35 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Pittsburgh · 3&15 · Q1 · EPA +3.49(00:06) No Huddle-Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete deep left to #0 M.Fields caught at ND50, for 35 yards to the ND50 (#15 R.Battle), 1ST DOWN, PENALTY Pitt Offside declined
Week 3 · Texas A&M · 3&13 · Q3 · EPA +3.32CJ Carr pass complete to Malachi Fields for 27 yds to the ND 49 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Texas A&M · 3&7 · Q4 · EPA +3.20CJ Carr pass complete to Malachi Fields for 20 yds to the TA&M 39 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Pittsburgh · 4&5 · Q4 · EPA -2.91(02:55) No Huddle-Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete short left to #0 M.Fields caught at Pitt21, for 4 yards to the Pitt21 (#3 R.Biles; #28 S.Lee Jr.), TURNOVER ON DOWNS
Week 11 · Navy · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.87(09:37) No Huddle-Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete deep middle to #0 M.Fields caught at NAV24, for 52 yards to the NAV15 (#3 I.Oniha), 1ST DOWN
Week 12 · Pittsburgh · 2&6 · Q2 · EPA +2.83(01:57) No Huddle-Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete deep left to #0 M.Fields caught at Pitt00, for 25 yards to the Pitt00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 01:56, 1ST DOWN, PENALTY Pitt Offside declined #18 E.Schmidt kick attempt good (H: #10 T.Buchner, LS: #96 J.Vinci)
Week 12 · Pittsburgh · 3&6 · Q3 · EPA +2.82(10:48) No Huddle-Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete short right to #0 M.Fields caught at Pitt03, for 6 yards to the Pitt00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 10:43 #18 E.Schmidt kick attempt good (H: #10 T.Buchner, LS: #96 J.Vinci)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 24-27@ Miami	3	48	16.0	0	26
Wk 3	L 40-41vs Texas A&M	5	77	15.4	0	27
Wk 4	W 56-30vs Purdue	2	78	39.0	1	66
Wk 5	W 56-13@ Arkansas	3	72	24.0	0	40
Wk 6	W 28-7vs Boise State	4	44	11.0	1	22
Wk 7	W 36-7vs NC State	1	20	20.0	0	20
Wk 8	W 34-24vs USC	1	9	9.0	0	9
Wk 10	W 25-10@ Boston College	2	52	26.0	1	40
Wk 11	W 49-10vs Navy	4	97	24.3	0	52
Wk 12	W 37-15@ Pittsburgh	7	99	14.1	2	35	Season-high 99 yds
Wk 13	W 70-7vs Syracuse	1	12	12.0	0	12
Wk 14	W 49-20@ Stanford	3	22	7.3	0	10
Total		36	630	18.2	5	66

How he plays

Play style

Stretches the field vertically. Every snap is a potential big play.

CFB Index positional classification

Money down · 3rd-down role

Money down

fact

9/173rd-down conversions

1.213rd-down EPA/target

0.42Other-downs EPA/target

11 of 17 caught on third down (64.7%) — EPA/target 1.21 vs 0.42 elsewhere (9 conversions).

Catch rate is disclosed context only, never the gate — conversions and EPA/target are. Interception targets carry no attribution row at any source, so EPA/target here is unfixably, slightly inflated.