Malaki Starks Produced Disappointing Game Film in 2024

Georgia safety Malaki Starks was less productive this past season than he’d been the season before.

2023: Seven passes defended and three interceptions.

2024: Three passes defended and one interception.

Pro Football Focus provided additional confirmation.

2023: 18 receptions allowed on 35 targets (51.4%)

2024: 34 receptions allowed on 51 targets (66.7%)

...And that’s exactly the way it looked watching him play.

I put a first-round grade on Starks’ 2023 game film and was hoping against hope that is what his 2024 game film would look like. But it didn’t.

“You never stay the same. You either get better, or you get worse.” Those are the words of Hall of Fame Head Coach Bill Parcells.

How true. How true.

Did Starks off-season shoulder surgery last spring play a role in his decline?

Possibly.

Game film

I’m not a “stats scout,” but stats can help to confirm the film ⎯and in this case they do. Starks went from looking like a playmaking safety in 2023 to looking like a damage control safety in 2024 with ‘first-round traits.’ A damage control safety ends up around the action a lot but isn’t making plays.

Despite the off-season surgery, Starks looked better against the run than the pass. It’s possible that surgery affected him more mentally than physically. The reason I say that is because the moments of hesitation that showed up on his 2023 film became amplified in 2024.

There’s more.

• Missed tackles
• Too lax in run support at times
• Took bad angles to the ball
• Poor job providing help over the top

None of that sounds good

It’s not.

The most important trait in a safety is dependability. Safeties are the last line of defense. Hesitation at safety is the difference between making a tackle or giving up a touchdown. Hesitation gets a team beat. Same with missed tackles, taking bad angles to the ball and not getting over in time to help the cornerbacks in coverage.

I’ve seen safeties like Starks play in the NFL for 10-11 years, but they don’t help their teams ‘win’ if that makes sense. They’re football-smart like Starks, and they understand coverage like Starks, but they get their teams beat because of the lack of their lack of urgency.

I think the thing that bothers me the most about Starks game film is he flashed urgency in his play, and he flashed the things that made me fall for him on his 2023 film.

The more I think about it and talk myself through this, it’s a motivation problem, and that’s a scary problem to consider when a team is trying to build a championship culture.

NFL projection

Starks does offer game-planning versatility being able to line up in the traditional safety spot and also lining up one-on-one against the inside slot receiver, he just didn’t make enough plays for my tastes in either role.

He arrived after the damage had been done too often.

#24 Malaki Starks 6-foot-1, 205 pounds

Daniel Kelly’s 2025 Final NFL Draft Grade: Second-Round (I wouldn’t select him)

Projected by 89.5% of the NFL Draft Community to be a first-round pick as of March 19, 2025 (nflmockdraftdatabase.com)

Georgia Safety Malaki Starks Has First Round Traits (2023: 14 games evaluated)

2024 game film evaluated: Clemson, Tennessee Tech, Kentucky, Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, Texas, Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee, UMASS, Georgia Tech, Texas, and Notre Dame (click to view games watched to form this evaluation)

2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Athletic prospect with good football-playing speed who provides inconsistent pass and run support. Alert and in command pre-snap. Good understanding of coverages shown. Not fooled by trick plays. Active twitchy movements that didn’t match productivity. Flashes great short-area close. Can dart in. Inconsistent reacting. Tends to be late providing help in the deep halves. Better at slot corner than at safety, but tends to get beat at the breakpoints. Best on straight-line coverages. Average change of direction. Blitzing upside. Tends to overrun angles. Tends to come in too high on tackles. More of a hitter than a tackler.

Final words

Downward trajectories are never a good thing heading into the draft.

Daniel Kelly is a former NFL Scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief for First Round Mock, and has written for Sports Illustrated (Lions, Jets, and 49ers), NFL Draft Diamonds, and Yardbarker, as well as a featured guest on ESPN Radio and Fox Sports Radio. For more information about him visit his website at whateverittakesbook.com. Follow on Twitter @firstroundmock.