Latest news with #MalakiStarks
USA Today
4 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Malaki Starks' response to a 5am film text says it all about his mental makeup
Malaki Starks' response to a 5am film text says it all about his mental makeup Malaki Starks welcomed and appreciated a 5am coaching text from Chuck Pagano. The only thing better than having an elite talent at the safety position is potentially having two of them. That's the situation the Baltimore Ravens are in. Kyle Hamilton enters year four at football's highest level. He has already established himself as one of the best players at his position, and this past April, he was given his partner in crime. Former Georgia Bulldogs star Malaki Starks was the 27th player taken during the most recent NFL Draft. His resume at the collegiate level was the stuff of legend: Freshman All-American (2022), College Football Playoff National Champion (2022), 2023 Consensus All-American, 2024 First-team All-American, two-time First-Team All-SEC nod. If all of that translates to the professional level, the Ravens are on to something. Starks is so talented that one can make the argument that bad coaching would be the only thing to prevent a supernova elevation. He won't have that issue as part of the Ravens. John Harbaugh enters year 18 at the helm. Baltimore is led on defense by Zach Orr, and the secondary is led by a familiar face who recently came home after sitting out of coaching for four seasons. Chuck Pagano wins Malaki Starks over The last time we saw Chuck Pagano on an NFL sideline, he was the Chicago Bears' defensive coordinator. The last time Chuck was in Baltimore, he led the Ravens' secondary for three seasons (2008-10) before becoming the defensive coordinator in 2011. Chuck has already won over his young group. His rookie safety recently spoke with media members and thanked his position coach for a 5 am text message, stating, "That's how I want to be coached." We shouldn't be surprised. Starks cut his teeth under Kirby Smart and Will Muschamp at UGA. Long story short, he's no stranger to being coached hard. The rookie is off to a good start by catching the eye of his position coach. Chuck knows what it takes to be great in this league, having coached Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, and Terrell Suggs. He has certainly seen some talent come through the Ravens locker room, and now he has an opportunity to reach and mold Hamilton, Starks, Nate Wiggins, Marlon Humphrey, and Chidobe Awuzie. This is a special unit. Starks couldn't have landed in a better situation.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Nate Wiggins Impressive Ravens' Brass With Weight Gain
Nate Wiggins Impressive Ravens' Brass With Weight Gain originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Baltimore Ravens' recent stretch of first-round picks has set them up for long-term success. Nowhere is this more pertinent than the secondary, where safety Kyle Hamilton blossomed into a superstar and corner Nate Wiggins impressed in Year 1. In April, they added high-profile safety Malaki Starks to the unit, adding even more upside to the defense. Advertisement Of course, first-round picks are supposed to come with immense talent; these selections have. But both Hamilton and Wiggins have shown a knack for improving, the latter developing throughout his rookie season. Now, he's aiming for an even better second season, and he's doing it with the power of protein. The young Ravens cornerback is impressing with his bigger frame at OTAs, which he talked about on Friday. "Since last season to know I gained 10 pounds," Wiggins said, via team transcript. "This year, it's going to be like more power, more strength. I'm still training to gain more pounds. I'm not a big fan of eating… [but] I'm forcing myself to eat." Advertisement Wiggins stood out in coverage as a rookie, logging an interception and 13 passes defended. Playing against the run and holding his own against bigger receivers, though, gave him a little more trouble. "Really just, I was just [getting hit] a lot. Injury wasn't my big thing last year, [but] just hitting the ground,' he said. 'With my shoulders hitting the ground, [my] body couldn't absorb the contact [well]. So it was really just getting [ready] my body [to be able to] take the contact." Nevertheless, Wiggins will have a lot on his plate as Baltimore takes on the gauntlet of AFC quarterbacks. He'll be expected to take another step forward on the boundary to give the Ravens one of the league's best secondaries. According to defensive coordinator Zach Orr, he's well on his way to doing so. Advertisement "I thought Nate did a great job going to work this offseason, putting weight on," Orr said on Thursday, via the team's website. "That's a testament to him and the strength coaches coming up with a great plan. Obviously, he followed it. "He's more locked in on his fundamentals and technique on a more consistent basis. He got to that point towards the middle end of the season, but last year, he was just running like a chicken with his head cut off, trying to figure out what to do. Now, he understands the system. He understands the defense. He's been in the league for a year, so he understands formations from offenses.' Entering the league at 173 pounds with 30.5-inch arms, size will always be an issue for Wiggins. Mitigating how much it detracts from his game could decide his fate in Baltimore. 'Man, that guy right there, if he takes his technique to another level on a consistent basis, the sky is the limit for him." Advertisement Related: Ravens' Oweh Bulking Up for Pivotal 2025 Related: Ravens' Kyle Hamilton Takes Top Spot in Latest Safety Ranking This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Baltimore Ravens rookie Malaki Starks could be a starter immediately.
Baltimore Ravens rookie Malaki Starks could be a starter immediately. originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Baltimore Ravens have one of the best safeties in the entire NFL in Kyle Hamilton, and now they may have another star at the position on their hands. Advertisement In a recent article by PFF, they give some key players on every team's starting lineup, as well as some rookies to watch. For the reigning AFC North champions, they list rookie safety Malaki Starks as someone who could make an immediate impact. "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," PFF wrote. "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." The Ravens selected Starks out of Georgia with the 27th overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. With the team allowing the second-most passing yards in the league in 2024, drafting secondary was in the team's best interests. Starks finished his final season with the Bulldogs with an interception, three passes defended, and 77 total tackles, four of them being for a loss. Advertisement The Ravens are coming off of a loss in the AFC Divisional to the Buffalo Bills, so Starks and the rest of the team's defense will be looking to help lead the team back to the playoffs to redeem themselves. Related: 'Remarkably Consistent' Ravens Dubbed Second-Most Complete Team Related: Ravens Star Defender Awkwardly Due For Improved 2025 This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
21-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former Georgia DB Malaki Starks earns praise from key Ravens' coach
Former Georgia DB Malaki Starks earns praise from key Ravens' coach Former Georgia Bulldogs safety Malaki Starks is another one of the many uber-talented defenders selected in the first-round of the 2025 NFL draft. The Baltimore Ravens selected him with the 27th pick and he's already earning some buzz. Including some praise from Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Monken, who was previously an offensive coordinator for Georgia, spoke highly about Starks after his NFL combine interview: "He's on point right off the bat. I mean, he's eyes wide awake, he's smart," Monken said. "Malaki is a stud. From the moment — like, you could tell in recruiting him at Georgia, you could tell he was wide awake. Great family. Like, stud. It's like, alright, this guy's different. Like, whatever skillset he's got, he's going to maximize it." Starks was recruited by Georgia as the No. 4 prospect in the nation and he lived up to the hype. He started his career with an amazing interception on Oregon quarterback Bo Nix and only got better from there. Overall, he ended his Georgia career with 197 career tackles along with 17 passes defended, six interceptions, and six tackles for loss. He earned a unanimous first-team All-American and first-team All-SEC selection in 2023. In 2024, he was a second-team All-American and a Jim Thorpe Award finalist once again.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
2025 NFL Draft: No, ESPN did not reveal the Ravens' draft board on its TV broadcast
As the NFL Draft awaited the announcement of the Baltimore Ravens' first-round selection of Malaki Starks Thursday night, ESPN appeared to commit a major snafu. ESPN cameras cut to a scene in the Ravens' draft room that appeared to reveal their entire draft board. There on a giant white board were seven columns labeled Round 1 through Round 7 with a deep list of names under each heading. Plenty of folks on the internet were convinced that ESPN had just sabotaged the Ravens' draft night. ESPN just leaked the @Ravens whole draft board. #nfldraft — David Riedman (@david_riedman) April 25, 2025 But a closer look at the white board reveals that it did not. The first name under Round 1 reads Caleb Williams. If you squint hard enough, you can see that the second name in the column is Jayden Daniels and third in the column is Drake Maye. The first name under Round 7 is Travis Clayton. These are last year's draft picks. It's not clear why. But for some reason, the Ravens had the entire 2024 NFL Draft laid out on a white board in their 2025 draft room. While the Ravens' draft board wasn't revealed, the shot may have revealed some insight into some lower-stakes decisions in Baltimore. On the right side of the board was another list of names reading "local pro day prospects." Lmao ESPN just showed the entire Ravens draft board after Starks selection. Not great. WTF 😂😂(Need the story with the giraffe tho)#NFLDraft #Ravens — Paul Rosenberg aka (Rosie//Glue) (@PaulsRandomness) April 25, 2025 One of the names listed is Virginia running back Kobe Pace. Another is Towson tight end Carter Runyon. Neither of them project as high draft picks or necessarily draft picks at all. They could simply be players on Baltimore's local radar to consider signing as undrafted free agents. While it's not great that any insight into the Ravens' thought process got revealed, America can breath easy. ESPN did not expose Baltimore's entire draft strategy.
