Q. You said you wanted four picks, right?
JOE SCHOEN: Malachi Fields is a player we coveted coming into the draft. As things started to fall and he was still there and some of the receivers went already, an opportunity to go get him.
We thought the value was -- we were fine with the value, and we were able to secure the player we wanted in a position we wanted to upgrade not only the size, length, athleticism, another phenomenal kid that would come in and be a really good addition for us.
Q. You said you were fine with the value, Joe. People always talk about the '27 draft like it's this all world draft class. Was that a consideration at all?
JOE SCHOEN: We'll see -- I know the comp formula, we'll see if we're able to still get one there. There's a chance we can maybe get a comp formula, a pick for Wan'Dale. You may get one-for-one there.
As we've seen throughout the draft, we've had opportunities to move back four spots, six. If you want to be intentional about it, you can certainly do that earlier in the Draft, move back a couple spots. Just excited to get the player we were able to get.
Q. How much was this the kind of receiver you were looking for and maybe complement? You had Mooney, Slayton, kind of stretch receivers. He's obviously a great receiver, not the biggest guy in the world. He obviously fits a certain build and mold. How much was that what you were looking for specifically?
JOE SCHOEN: He's certainly a different body type than we currently have. Adding that was something we had talked about doing. We weren't going to force it unless the value was at the right spot. Obviously being 6'4-1/2", 218 pounds, and the catch radius and athleticism that he displays was attractive.
All those things were almost like build a basketball team we talk about. You get the power forward now.
Q. I think you guys didn't go to Senior Bowl, right? You guys were here. He had some standout Senior Bowl. What was the word from the scouts after that?
JOE SCHOEN: Best receiver down there was the reports back. Coach and I were here that week, but we obviously got to go through the film and watch the one-on-ones and the practices and the games. He had a phenomenal week down there for sure.
Q. What does a player like him give Jaxson?
JOE SCHOEN: You can put it in the radius, put it in the area, and he's going to come down with it a lot of times. You saw that at Notre Dame. Again, a down the field target who can come down with the ball in contested situations. Red zone, a big body in the red zone, again with that tremendous catch radius. That's invaluable for a young quarterback.
Q. You mentioned you're interested in getting more stout. You add another big player. How much do you like adding another big player?
JOHN HARBAUGH: It's not a negative. It's definitely not a negative. We spent a lot of time over the course of the whole draft, and the scouts did a great job once again, but today was a day spent looking at opportunities throughout the day. We were all in there together studying these guys. You try to reset it.
Malachi was a guy we had right at the top of our board from the beginning of the day. It wasn't a guy that we weren't targeting. We were targeting him right out of the gates. We were able to get Colton, and he was in the same clump.
I think Joe did a great job of understanding kind of the draft and where people valued certain players and thought we could get him a little later. Probably exhausted as far back as we thought we could go and then made an aggressive move to come back up and get to this spot right here, a whole round ahead of where we were picking to give us a chance to get him.
He's a guy we felt -- honestly we felt like he had for us maybe a second round value. We wanted the player, and we got him. I thought it was a great get for us.
Q. How much are you considering maybe going after him at 37?
JOE SCHOEN: Colton was our top of the board coming into the day. So we were excited to get him.
JOHN HARBAUGH: It's not as much as how much you value him, but where can we get him? Joe and the scouting department do a great job of analyzing it. Sometimes they're not right, but they kind of had it pegged in terms of where he was going to go in the order. That's probably why we got it done.
Q. Joe mentioned catch radius for the young quarterback. I know what it means, but can you explain as a head coach, in a young quarterback's head, when you can throw the ball in the air and he's like I know he's going to catch it.
JOHN HARBAUGH: It's such a great point because the idea of being basically a player is never covered. You throw the ball to him, he's going to find a way to make the play around the defender. Not just -- he's got reach. He can outreach whoever's covering him. He's got great hands. He's a contested type of receiver. You've seen those guys in the league for a lot of years make a lot of plays.
I'd also say too I heard what some of the commentary said, the 40 time is a concern for people, but when you do the miles per hour, which we get the tracking now, that's fast. He tracks a lot faster. He's the equivalent of a mid-4.4 type 40. He's running over 21 miles an hour consistently in games. He's also got the ability to stop, drop, change direction, get out of breaks. You see all that.
You look at one-on-one tapes from college and things like that, I think he's kind of an underrated athlete as well. We'll see when he gets here. We'll all get a chance to look at him and see what he does. Plus he's an A-plus personality, A-plus character, A-plus worker. They love him at Notre Dame. Looking forward to getting him here.
Q. Any anticipation there's going to be a large gap between this pick and the beginning of the sixth?
JOE SCHOEN: We have three sixth round picks. Big gap between there. We're probably not going to do anything before then.
Q. Did you have to think hard about that? The idea of, okay, we're not going to be able to pick for a while then?
JOE SCHOEN: There's some guys coming off now, it's a little bit of wild, wild west on our board now. There was a player up there we coveted, and we felt really good if we're able to get him, get him in the building.
And we'll continue to chip away with the three picks remaining and then college free agency and any vets that are on the street. If we need to continue to fill the roster that way, we'll do that.
Q. If you picked your defensive tackle, and I'd be asking about wide receiver. I'll ask it the other way. How do you feel about defensive tackle? It's hard to fill the needs with so many picks. That seems to be the one area you haven't addressed.
JOE SCHOEN: Again, not playing until September. There's other avenues we can do it. Looking at some of the free agents on the street, we'll continue to talk to some of those guys. Again, we've got college free agency and three sixth round picks.
We'll find a way. We won't stop. We'll keep looking to upgrade, not just D-tackle, but the entire roster. Whatever it is, we'll continue to do that.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports