Leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft from April 24-26, The Red & Black is previewing Georgia’s prospects. Up next is safety Malaki Starks.
Malaki Starks has been an impact player since his first college game, so it was no surprise when he chose to skip his final year of eligibility and enter the NFL draft after his junior season.
Starks was a fixture in Georgia’s defensive backfield for three seasons, and in that time he was one of the defense’s most productive players. He was the leading tackler in 2024 with 77 stops, including four for loss, along with four passes defended and an interception.
Starks was a freshman All-American starter on Georgia’s 2022 national championship team, and earned two more All-American nods in his final two college seasons. He finished his overall career with 197 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 23 passes defended and six interceptions.
One of the highest-rated safety prospects of all time coming out of Jefferson High School, Starks joined Georgia’s 2022 recruiting class as 247Sports’ No. 2 player in Georgia and the No. 4 recruit overall. He was also the No. 1 player listed as an “athlete”.
Starks’ ridiculous athleticism is what stands out about him immediately and helped make him a legend in Jefferson. He’s a fluid athlete who covers ground at breakneck speeds, and that athleticism translates when the ball is in the air.
Starks has a knack for tracking deep balls and has made some freakish interceptions, whether it was the one against Oregon in 2022 that announced his presence to the college football world, or his similar snag on a deep ball in Georgia’s opener against Clemson this past season.
Starks ran a 4.5-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, recorded a 33-inch vertical and a 1.58-second 10-yard shuttle.
The other calling card for Starks is his versatility. Georgia asked him to do just about everything a defensive back could possibly do. That includes lining up at deep safety, closer to the box, splitting the field with another safety, or playing nickel, which he did quite a bit of in 2024. He held up quite well through it all and was, evidently, one of the most trusted players on the team by Georgia’s coaching staff.
“I was playing so many different spots, I was able to really see football from a different perspective,” Starks said at his pro day in March. “And help [my teammates] as well. I think the biggest thing I want to learn [in the NFL] is, also the same thing, like the landmarks, the hashes and the rules are different in the league than they are in college. So just relearning and documenting the whole process again is what I’m really excited about.”
Off the field, Starks had a reputation as being one of the hardest workers and most vocal leaders on the team. He wouldn’t be able to play all of those different positions if he didn’t eat, sleep and breathe the game of football, and he even took a few snaps at punt returner in 2024 when the need arose.
His leadership is also apparent on the field, as he was often spotted helping get his teammates lined up properly before the snap after quick offensive adjustments. Starks was one of the most reliable starters of the Kirby Smart era so far, starting 42 straight games to end his career.
The biggest concern with Starks is, in all likelihood, his tackling. Though he finished as Georgia’s leading tackler in 2024, he isn’t particularly great at finishing tackles and will miss some at times. He’s an incredibly long and quick athlete, but doesn’t convert that speed into power a lot of the time and will bounce off of ball carriers as a result.
He had a lot of trouble with that in Georgia’s loss to Alabama in September, as well as simply taking bad angles and getting burned. While his tackling technique is sound, his 6-foot-197 pound frame simply may not be enough to take down some NFL runners in one-on-one situations.
Starks’ ability in man coverage also leaves a lot to be desired. He allowed several big plays in man-to-man situations in 2024, and while he’s great at tracking the ball, that doesn’t help if he can’t put himself in position to make a play. Sometimes, against the run, he can be too indecisive with picking a gap and will not fill the play in time.
The safety position is a tricky one to draft since it’s not thought of as a “premium” defensive position the same way that, say edge rusher and cornerback are. However, Starks has the versatility to transcend the label of pure safety, and his game bears a lot of resemblance to NFL stars Brian Branch and Kyle Hamilton in that regard.
Both of those players went way later than they should have in the 2023 and 2022 drafts, respectively, so it will be interesting to see if NFL teams try to avoid that same mistake with Starks.
Overall, while Starks has concerns with his tackling and man coverage skills, and he may not specialize in one area thanks to all the different things Georgia asked him to do, there is too much to like about him as a player in other aspects. He can play essentially any position on the defensive backfield and has truly special athleticism and ball-tracking skills. Additionally, he has the drive to succeed, leadership qualities and high football character that should make him a coach’s dream and are essential to survive in the NFL.
Although his positional status makes him a bit tougher to project, Starks is one of the most reliable and unique players in recent Georgia history, and his college production and accolades speak for themselves. He should be a starter-quality player right away for whoever drafts him, with a sky-high ceiling.
Projection: Late first round
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