The Baltimore Ravens defense went through an adjustment period over the first half of the 2024 season, which forced Kyle Hamilton to spend a vast majority of his time on the third level of the secondary.
Yet, one ‘stellar’ rookie could help produce one of the best starting safety duos in the league in 2025.
Malaki Starks Named Rookie to Watch by PFF
In a recent NFL rankings article from PFF NFL Analysts Dalton Wasserman and Max Chadwick, the Ravens second-ranked roster entering the 2025 NFL season mentioned keeping an eye on rookie S Malaki Starks.
PFF wrote, “With Ar’Darius Washington’s 2025 season in jeopardy due to a torn Achilles in May, Malaki Starks has very little standing in his way from starting at safety opposite Kyle Hamilton. He was stellar during his three years at Georgia, earning an 87.5 career PFF overall grade. If Starks can live up to his first-round billing, Baltimore could quickly have the best safety pairing in the league with both players still under 25 years old.”
Starks is a highly versatile defender who was highly productive all three years as a member of the Georgia Bulldogs, where he amassed 127 total tackles, six interceptions, and six tackles for a loss over his 43 games played.
Starks’ versatility could pair perfectly with Kyle Hamilton, who has already proven he can excel as a box defender, big nickel, or single-high safety in the NFL.
Despite the secondary working through some early season struggles, PFF actually doesn’t believe the defensive backfield was the biggest weakness on the roster last year.
PFF added, “Baltimore’s pass-rush unit placed just 21st in pressure rate (33%) in 2024. Edge rushers Odafe Oweh and Kyle Van Noy were the team’s most consistent players at getting after the quarterback, but even their identical 74.7 PFF pass-rush grades tied for just 25th at the position. The Ravens will be hoping that second-round pick Mike Green can help fix the problem, as his 91.4 PFF pass-rush grade this past season tied for sixth among all edge defenders.”
Will Malaki Starks Begin the 2025 NFL Season as a Full-Time Starter?
The aforementioned injury to Ar’Darius Washington should open up some snaps for another member of this secondary, which certainly could be Starks.
Marlon Humphrey continues to play at high level and has alignment versatility too. Additionally, second-year cornerback Nate Wiggins should step into an expanded role at cornerback with the loss of Brandon Stephens this offseason.
Hamilton is still the ultimate Queen chess piece of this secondary with his do-it-all skillset, but Starks high football IQ, physicality, and ball skills should give this unit a ton of flexibility to throw countless pre-snap looks at opposing quarterbacks without compromising the integrity of the defense.
The defense still has other quality veterans like Roquan Smith, Kyle Van Noy, and Odafe Oweh among others to help this unit return to the elite status we saw from them back in 2023.
Safeties often feel like luxury picks in the first round, but if Hamilton’s success early in his career has told us anything… it’s that a dynamic safety can cover up numerous deficiencies on the back end.
If Starks proves to be just as dynamic as Hamilton in the NFL, then the Ravens could be in the conversation for the best safety duo in the league in 2025.
