The Cleveland Browns lost one of their starting safeties this offseason.
Juan Thornhill left the team as expected, and while he wasn’t necessarily a lockdown defender in the secondary, the team needs to fill that gap.
With that in mind, Lance Reisland of Cleveland.com urged the team to take a look at several prospects.
In his latest column, he even made a case for them to trade back up in the first round to get Malaki Starks out of Georgia:
“Cleveland would most likely have to trade back into the first round to get Starks. His speed, length (77 6/8-inch wingspan), experience (40 college starts) and overall athleticism make him the perfect fit as the deep 1-high hat safety in the Schwartz scheme,” Reisland wrote.
Starks can play at both safety positions, depending on what the team needs.
He’s physical enough to be a factor against the run and play near the line of scrimmage, although he made a bigger impact as a free safety.
He’s a privileged athlete with a quick burst and the ability to change directions, and he finished his collegiate career with 197 total tackles, 17 passes defended, six tackles for loss, and six interceptions.
On the downside, he needs to learn when to be a little more conservative, as he can be too aggressive at times, and that can occasionally led to him being out of position and beaten for a big gain.
Needless to say, the chances of trading back into the first round to get him seem slim.
And even if that were to be the case, chances are that the Browns would use that additional first-round pick to get either Jaxson Dart or Jalen Milroe.
