Ravens take Georgia safety Malaki Starks with 27th pick in NFL draft

Brian Wacker, The Baltimore Sun on Apr 24, 2025

Published in Football

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Last season, the Ravens’ pass defense was one of the worst in the NFL, ranking 27th with 238.3 yards passing allowed per game. Thursday night, they took what they hope will be a big step to help address that problem.

With the 27th overall pick in the NFL draft, Baltimore selected Georgia safety Malaki Starks.

Starks, a 6-foot-1, 197-pound standout for the Bulldogs over the past three seasons, led Georgia in tackles last season (77) to go with four tackles for loss, three pass breakups and an interception. He was even better in 2023, when he was a first-team Associated Press All-American and finalist for the Bronko Nagurski (top defender) and Jim Thorpe (top defensive back) Awards after racking up 52 tackles, seven pass breakups and three interceptions.

He also provides the kind of athleticism and versatility Baltimore typically covets. He can play multiple spots in the secondary and has been praised for his football IQ.

“He didn’t have the phenomenal year because they moved him around,” ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said earlier this month. “[But] when he can do what he does, and just lock into that safety spot with his ball skills, his awareness, the way he tackles.”

His addition also bolsters a group that needed it after safety Eddie Jackson was released during last season and safety Marcus Williams struggled mightily before being benched and then released after the season. Other than All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowl selection Kyle Hamilton and Ar’Darius Washington, who earlier this week signed a one-year tender to remain in Baltimore, the Ravens’ only other safeties on the roster include unproven second-year players Sanoussi Kane and Beau Brade, both of whom contributed almost entirely on special teams last season.

It also marks just the second time since 2013 that the Ravens used a first-round pick on a safety.

The other occasion was in 2022 when they selected Hamilton 14th overall out of Notre Dame. It was not a big surprise they went that route again with Starks, with general manager Eric DeCosta last week all but guaranteeing he would use a pick on a safety.

Long a subscriber to the best-player-available mantra, there’s an argument to be made that’s what he got given Starks’ resume, which had some draftniks predicting he would get picked sooner.

A three-year starter at Georgia, he played multiple spots in coach Kirby Smart’s man and zone scheme. He should give Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr plenty of options on where to deploy him for Baltimore, where he should have an immediate impact, including on special teams.

Said ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller: “Starks is Baltimore’s dream pick.”