Malaki Starks

Starks arrived at Georgia as the No. 4 overall recruit in the 2022 class and started immediately, playing more than 800 snaps as a true freshman on a Bulldogs defense that won the national championship. He went on to start 40 of his 41 collegiate games, earning Consensus All-American honors in 2023 and First-Team All-American recognition as a Jim Thorpe Award finalist in 2024, when he posted 77 tackles, four tackles for loss, an interception, and three pass breakups. Baltimore drafted him 27th overall in 2025, pairing him in the secondary with All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton.

Starks showed leadership traits early, organizing extra work for teammates during his first rookie minicamp, and made an immediate on-field impact with an interception off Tua Tagovailoa as a rookie. Sports Illustrated ranked Starks and Hamilton as the NFL's No. 2 safety duo heading into this season — with the two talked about as one of the more promising young pairings at the position league-wide as Starks looks to build on a strong debut campaign.

Before he was a five-star football recruit, Starks was a state champion in the long jump and ran a 10.55-second 100 meters at Jefferson High School in Georgia. That track background is part of what scouts point to when describing his closing speed and range at safety — a rare combination of size, instincts, and pure straight-line speed.