CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – After spending four years playing for his hometown school at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville native and former Monticello High School star Malachi Fields transferred to Notre Dame for his final season of college football, hoping to improve his NFL draft stock.

Friday night, Fields’s pro dreams came true when the New York Giants selected the 6-foot-4, 222-pound wide receiver with the 10th pick of the third round, selection No. 74 overall.

“I’m fired up to be a Giant,” Fields said after getting the call from the Giants, according to a video posted to the team’s website.

Fields became a starter at UVA as a sophomore in 2023, and caught 113 passes for 1,619 yards and 10 touchdowns in 24 games over the next two seasons.

For the Irish this past year, Fields had 36 receptions for 630 yards and five touchdowns.

The Giants traded up with the Cleveland Browns to make the pick. New York general manager Joe Schoen praised Fields’s “size, length and athleticism.”

“Malachi Fields is a player we coveted coming into the draft,” Schoen said during a media briefing after the selection. “As things started to fall and he was still there, with some of the receivers that had went already, an opportunity to go get him. We were fine with the value and the ability to secure the player that we wanted at a position we wanted to upgrade.”

Fields was part of a run of wide receivers selected in the third round. Of 36 picks that round, nine were used on wide receivers, starting with Clemson’s Antonio Williams,, who went to the Washington Commanders three slots ahead of Fields.

Fields was expected to join the team Saturday.