Ryan Mink

The Ravens drafted Georgia safety Malaki Starks with their first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Here are five reasons why we love the pick:

He's a perfect fit in Baltimore's defense.

The Ravens already have one of the best safeties in the NFL in Kyle Hamilton. Starks is a perfect complement as a player who can not only play all over the secondary but also allow Hamilton to do the same.

According to Pro Football Focus, Starks played 400 snaps as a deep safety, 271 in the slot and 215 in the box last year. Head Coach John Harbaugh said he can play dime linebacker too.

"I feel comfortable playing anywhere," Starks said.

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While Hamilton thrived, as usual, playing more of a traditional deeper safety role down the stretch last season, his greatest strength may be that he's a jack-of-all-trades. Starks frees up Hamilton and vice versa.

"The ability to move all those pieces around and get them in different positions is pretty exciting," Harbaugh said. "The offense isn't going to know who's going to be back there on any given play."

The Ravens have aimed to have the NFL's best safety duo in the league for the past several years. With Starks, they have a young tandem that can shine together for years to come.

Starks is a playmaker.

Starks was a starter from Day 1 as a true freshman in Georgia's loaded defense. In his first game, he made a spectacular leaping interception on a deep pass by the Oregon quarterback Bo Nix.

One of the keys for the Ravens to get over the hump in the playoffs is to create more takeaways on defense. Baltimore has three takeaways in nine playoff games since 2018.

Starks had six interceptions in three seasons at Georgia. While that doesn't jump off the stat sheet, he got his hands on 23 passes and anybody who watches his highlights will see the kind of ball hawk he can be in Baltimore's secondary.

"He covers people man to man. He comes up and tackles people. He plays nickel-zone responsibility, which is really kind of tricky. He's got a good feel for that," Harbaugh said. "In the deep middle, he's got range, so he showed ball skills."

Starks is a "red star" player.

Every Ravens scout has the opportunity to put a red star on a prospect, denoting someone who embodies what it means to be a Raven on and off the field. Starks is a "red star" player.

Aside from the stat sheet, Starks has premier intangibles smarts, leadership, character.

"He's wired like a Raven," General Manager Eric DeCosta said.

DeCosta said Starks had one of the most impressive interviews the Ravens have ever had at the Combine. He got perfect grades from everybody in the room.

"I just think it was remarkable, the way that he could discuss football," DeCosta said. "His awareness, his ability to call out the plays from their defense before we even showed the plays, just based on formation. The ability to dissect and talk about what happened on any given play and to know what his teammates were doing on any given play. It was like he was a coach."

Lauded for his communication on the field, Georgia coaches shoveled a lot of responsibilities onto Starks' plate and he's eager to learn more in Baltimore.

"I think it's a great fit for me just to come in and learn from a guy like Kyle Hamilton, [and] there are a lot of vets in the room, like Marlon Humphrey," Starks said. "I think it's amazing, and I think I fit the culture very well."

He's a national champion who played the toughest competition.

The Ravens have been on the cusp of the Super Bowl. Starks won it all at Georgia as a freshman in 2022.

Beyond the title, Georgia has had one of college football's best defenses for years and Starks was the leader of that unit on the back end.

DeCosta said he learned from his predecessor, Ozzie Newsome, about the value of drafting big-time players from big-time programs. Newsome was known for his love of Alabama players. DeCosta's first-round defensive draft picks have been from LSU (Patrick Queen), Odafe Oweh (Penn State), Notre Dame (Hamilton), Clemson (Nate Wiggins) and now Georgia.

"That's a big deal. That's something that we definitely look for," DeCosta said. "Let's face it; the SEC is, if not one I mean probably one, but one or two in terms of the best football conferences in the country and this is a guy that's won national championships and played at a very high level. That's important."

He's overcome personal adversity.

Part of what has given Starks such strong character is his background growing up in a small town (Jefferson) in Georgia.

According to The Athletic, his close-knit family of four was homeless and bounced between temporary solutions when Starks was in Grades 3-6. The death of his cousin in a murder-suicide is why he wears the jersey No. 24.

Starks is apparently "legendary" in Jefferson became of his athleticism and loyalty to his community and youth. Another small-town Georgia product, Roquan Smith, said he's heard buzz about Starks.

"I heard a lot of great things about him, another Georgia guy [who's] really, really mature for his age [and] a really good player," Smith said. "Also, I know [Georgia Head Coach] Kirby [Smart, Defensive Coordinator Glenn] Schumann and all those guys have a great deal of respect for him and the way he plays the game of football."