I thought the key to Malik Washington getting 111 catches for UVA last season was Malachi Fields.
Fields, a 6’4”, 220-pound wideout, demands extra attention from defensive coordinators because of his size and speed.
I mean, just saying it like it is, there just aren’t many corners at the college level who can cover him one-on-one.
That, in turn, created matchup advantages in the slot for Washington, who was taken in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins.
I hope Washington took Fields out for a nice steak dinner when he signed his contract.
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The good news for us is, Fields is back, he’ll still get extra attention from D coordinators in the game planning, and Tony Elliott is trying to surround him with more speed guys – picking up former five-star recruit Chris Tyree from Notre Dame and former four-star recruit Andre Green from North Carolina.
Elliott and offensive coordinator Des Kitchings also tried to address the lack of production at tight end in the offseason, going to the portal to pick up Harvard grad transfer Tyler Neville and Clemson grad transfer Sage Ennis.
I still say Fields is the key, that he’s the difference-maker for the UVA offense, not just in the passing game, but all around, but if the gurus can figure out how to get something out of the tight ends, in addition to Fields drawing the extra attention, and the slot guys taking advantage of mismatches inside, hey, this thing can work.
Elliott, talking with reporters after practice on Monday, expounded on how it can all come together.
“When you’ve got three receivers that can balance the field up and a tight end that can go from side to side to create matchup advantages, now they got to make a decision, OK, are we going to bracket a guy, and if you bracket a guy, then you’re creating single coverage, right? And if you’re bracketing a guy, creating single coverage, you’re lighter in the box, you know, versus the run,” Elliott said.
I should have warned you ahead of time, that Tony Elliott doesn’t give short answers.
“So, when you have, you know, the depth to be able to spread out and create matchup disadvantages, then now you put the pressure on the defense, and they’re going to have to reveal, you know, and if they say, we’re going to lower say we’re going to load up and and stop the run, then guess what? We’re going to have one-on-one coverage. And you now have the bodies and the matchups to be able to go win one-on-one across the board,” Elliott said.
Not done yet.
“If they say, You know what, we’re going to sit back and we’re going to play two shell, and we’re going to, you know, die a slow death, so to speak, then you have to run the ball, because now you have the advantages. And then when you have a tight end that can quickly, you know, go from being a passing threat to, you know, a sixth hat in the run game, now you create angles and numbers, which now gives you the ability to just, however you want us to do this thing, we can.”
There you have it.
We’ve got Malachi Fields, we’ve got speed in the slot. We don’t know if we have tight ends who can catch the ball, which is what was missing last year, but if we do, then we might be able to get something going running the ball.
The O line will be better, because there’s depth and experience coming back, so that should help, and we’ve got two good, experienced, productive QBs.
I’m trying to get you to see what I see, that the UVA offense could be something special this year.
I think it all starts with Malachi Fields.
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Chris Graham
