The Notre Dame football team has not made much public noise about the kind of players it’s looking for in the portal this year, but that doesn’t mean the Irish aren’t doing a little shopping here and there.
Marcus Freeman and company have already landed one portal target: former Alabama cornerback Devonta Smith. Now, it appears there’s one wide receiver looking to transfer who will almost certainly be a top target for the Irish.
The Notre Dame football team almost certainly stood up and took notice of former Virginia receiver Malachi Fields. The player is just the type that Freeman would like to add to a group that underperformed a bit both in 2022 and 2023. Among those who agree is The Athletic’s Pete Sampson, who believes not only will the Irish go hard after Fields but will likely be the frontrunners for his services.
Notre Dame football could aggressively pursue Malachi Fields
“This will be a big one for Notre Dame,” Sampson wrote on social media. “Expect the Irish to be a frontrunner if not the outright favorite. Fields is a 6-4, 220-pound receiver coming off back-to-back 800-yard receiving years at Virginia.”
Specifically, Fields caught 58 passes for 811 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2023 and 55 catches for 808 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2024. His consistency in putting up his numbers is startling, but it will also be plenty attractive to the Irish, who saw production from guys like Kris Mitchell drop a bit once they got to South Bend.
Coming out of high school, Fields didn’t get much in the way of Power Conference attention. He chose the Cavaliers over Liberty, VMI, and William & Mary. As he just entered the portal on December 17, it’s unclear who besides the Notre Dame football team will be after him. Still, the Irish should be the front-runner among almost any class if for no other reason than they aren’t loading up on players anywhere near the level of other teams.