Ravens Draft Versatile Safety in the First Round
With the 27th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens selected Malaki Starks, Safety, University of Georgia. Heavily mocked to the Ravens over the past few weeks, the Ravens sat tight and waited to secure another versatile defensive back to pair with All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton. The Georgia native brings a blend of speed, athleticism, and open-field tackling abilities to a secondary that was in desperate need of help during the first half of the 2024 season. Bringing in Starks allows both him and Hamilton to play almost anywhere on the field, in a deceptive, dominant, and explosive Baltimore defense. My grade for this draft pick is an A or, at the least, an A minus.
In his freshman year, Starks won the 2022 CFB National Championship with Georgia, easily defeating the TCU Horned Frogs 65-7, and was named to the 2022 All-American Freshman Team by College Football News, leading his team in defensive snaps and second in tackles during that season. Starks is also a two-time First-Team All-SEC player and a two-time First-Team All-American. In his three-year career at Georgia, Starks recorded six interceptions, six tackles for loss, 23 defended passes and 197 total tackles playing in multiple areas of the field including but not limited to slot, nickel and deep safety. Measuring in at six-foot-one and 203 pounds, the newest Raven called himself in a press conference immediately after the pick, “a safety that can move around…” and feels “…comfortable playing anywhere”.
In 2024, the Ravens began the season struggling in the secondary department, allowing too much success versus air raid teams like the Bengals as well as below-average teams like the Raiders. Now that Marcus Williams and Eddie Jackson are no longer on the team after losing their roles halfway through the season, the Ravens relied on Ar’Darius Washington to step up and assist Kyle Hamilton in bringing the Ravens back into the top-five defense conversation. With the addition of Starks, the Ravens are getting an athletic, versatile, and durable safety. He was highly regarded as a leader in Georgia's defense for his leadership and communication on the field. General manager Eric DeCosta pointed out in a press conference tonight that the Ravens are not closing the door on drafting another safety during this draft, but are extremely happy with the way the first round played out as they got a “red star” player from their draft board without having to trade up. Only time will tell if Starks ends up like Kyle Hamilton or falls to mediocrity quickly like Matt Elam, but my money rests on the side of success.
