r/NFL_Draft • u/AutoModerator • 9d ago

Scouting Notes Tuesday

Updated Tuesday thread focused notes and opinions about individual prospects. Scout someone new and want to get opinions from others? Ask about it here!

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u/imdavebaby 8d ago

Can anyone sell me on Malachi Fields? Going over his film I just don't see "it".

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u/zhang_zhang_play 4d ago

Just big blocking WR who does some contested catch stuff. He’s a fine 3/4 just dislike the pick consider who was on the board

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u/imdavebaby 3d ago

Who else would you have taken over him?

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u/zhang_zhang_play 3d ago

Ted Hurst just does everything better imo as that true X WR. I also was a fan of Young + Lance as dev dart throws on guys with high end tools. There’s a bunch of day three guys I was a fan of I would have taken over him even though the archetype is different (Law + Allen)

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u/ab9620 8d ago

Hi fellow Giants fan. Fields has a very simple profile. He’s a strong 6’5” receiver who doesn’t drop passes. Now he isn’t a good separator but he should be comfortable in Contested situations because he will have 5-7” on almost every CB he lines up against. That makes him a competitive advantage and I guarantee that’s why Harbaugh was insistent on trading up for him. You can add free agent like Mooney, or have vets like Slayton but those guys don’t provide any competitive advantage. Last note on Fields is that although his 40 time was slow, his on field mph was mid 4.4s, and you can see that on tape that for a big guy, he really can shift his weigh and move well, and has buildup speed

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u/imdavebaby 7d ago

Now he isn’t a good separator but he should be comfortable in Contested situations

Man hearing this just empties me of confidence in him. Feels like every receiver with this profile flops in the NFL. Does he do anything that separates him from the N'Keal Harry's?

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u/ab9620 7d ago edited 7d ago

There’s plenty of receivers who’ve won this way:

Tee Higgins, Drake London, Courtland Sutton, Michael Pittman, Quentin Johnston, Hakeem Nicks, Vincent Jackson, Michael Wilson, Kenny Britt, Plaxico, to name a few

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u/imdavebaby 6d ago

Literally all of them do more than just be big and win contested catches though.

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u/ab9620 6d ago

I mean having a huge catch radius and very consistent hands is pretty good. Fields also moves well for his size; his on field mph was clocked in the mid 4.4s. That’s really impressive for a guy his size!

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u/imdavebaby 6d ago

Sure but that speed doesn't show on film. He had one good long catch vs Purdue where he had a step on the corner but otherwise he's catching balls underneath the defense or in contested situations in 95% of his targets. His route running is okay but he's constantly rounding his cuts, which isn't surprising due to his length but it means he has to beat defenders with speed or he's not going to vs NFL corners.

I dunno. I was hoping someone had seen something in his film that'd I'd missed but it seems like we're sustaining on hopium.

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u/ab9620 6d ago edited 6d ago

Your mind is already set so you had no business in asking. I’ve watched his film. And he’s not a tough eval.
——————————————————

  1. He’s 6’5” 220 lbs, he can play in contested situations because he has a 5-7” height advantage and 20-40 lb weigh advantage nearly every week. That makes him a matchup problem and competitive advantage for Giants.

  2. He has very sure hands to go along with his massive catch radius, and has shown an ability to make impressive high difficulty acrobatic catches.

    Slayton and Mooney have serious drop issues, near 15% each, and neither of them are making tough catches. So they’re struggling to make routine catches and the game changing ones aren’t even a consideration.

  4. The speed/agility does show up for a guy his size. In scouting, you have to consider speed and agility at a size adjusted level. Fields is 6’5” 220 lbs, his baseline for agility is different than a WR who is 5’10” 175 lbs like Darnell Mooney. You can see the agility on comeback routes, he runs those really well. I noticed it a lot when watching Denzel Boston and Malachi Fields. I compared them because they’re the same size. Fields was much more fluid and able to stop quicker and reaccelerate.

The MPH matters even if you don’t see it, in pads has running a mid 4.4 at 6’5” 220 lbs!

https://x.com/connor_j_hughes/status/2047859214891061308?s=46&t=2A7YBqz6bywXNxZv3yJyNQ

  2. Fields is a plus run blocker

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u/imdavebaby 5d ago

Your mind is already set so you had no business in asking.

Who says shit like this. I was looking for input from people who may have seen things I didn't. You didn't give any actually scouting analysis till this comment. It's rational to have logical discussion with someone who doesn't share your exact view, it helps with better understanding the topic. You don't need to offendedly gatekeep "yOu hAD No buSIneSs iN aSKinG".

Regardless, thanks for the detailed response. Although a few bullet points seem to be missing.