HEADLINES

Malaki Starks

NFL Announces 17 Prospects Attending NFL Draft

April 14th, 2025 at 6:30pm CST by Ben Levine

There will be 17 draft prospects waiting in the green room to hear their name announced next week. The NFL announced the players who will attend the first round next Thursday night in Green Bay:

When players commit to attending the first round of the draft, their respective camps have often been given some kind of assurance that they’ll be selected within the top-32 picks. Of course, that’s not a prerequisite, and as we’ve seen many times, there are some overly-confident prospects who subsequently endure the very-public waiting game.

Per usual, the most notable inclusions surround the QB position. Cameron Ward is the favorite to go first-overall, and Shedeur Sanders (who is absent from this list) is also expected to be selected at some point in the first round. After that, the position is pretty uncertain, and that could lead to some awkward moments for the other QBs who decided to attend.

Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe have firmly established themselves in that next tier of QB prospects, and recent reports have indicated that they should be at least Day 2 picks. There haven’t been any definitive reports about their Day 1 candidacy, and while we shouldn’t read too much into the list of attendees, it is notable that both prospects believe they have a shot of going in the top-32 selections.

Eagles Host S Malaki Starks; Team Interested In Walter Nolen, James Pearce?

April 14th, 2025 at 2:16pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Eagles’ draft plans will depend in large part on how the first-round board shakes out before they are on the clock. A trio of names have emerged regarding Day 1 defenders the team thinks highly of, though.

Philadelphia has hosted safety Malaki Starks on a top-30 visit, Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP reports. The Georgia product has long been touted as one of the two first-round prospects at the position. Shorr-Parks adds the Eagles have “a ton of interest” in Starks, which comes as no surprise given general manager Howie Roseman‘s history of drafting Georgia defenders.

The junior operated as full-time starter during each of his three seasons with the Bulldogs. Starks earned first-team All-SEC and All-American honors in 2023, a year in which he totaled three interceptions and seven pass deflections. This past campaign included a step back in terms of statistical output, which could hurt his draft stock. Nevertheless, selecting Starks could require moving up the order given the Eagles’ No. 32 draft slot.

The Super Bowl champions traded away C.J. Gardner-Johnson this offseason, creating a need in the secondary. Adding Starks would give the Eagles an immediate replacement candidate on the back end, but it remains to be see if he will wind up in their range. The Dolphins – set to draft 13th overall – were recently reported to be high on him, and several teams in position to select shortly after Miami are no doubt in a similar situation.

If the Roseman and the Eagles elect to trade up, other defenders could be the target. ESPN’s Jordan Reid names defensive tackle Walter Nolen and edge rusher James Pearce as prospects to watch in that respect. Nolen is among the many D-lineman in contention to hear their names called on Day 1, although his draft range is believed to be wider than many other first-round candidates. Adding the junior (who transferred from Texas A&M to Ole Miss in 2024) would help compensate for the loss of Milton Williams in free agency.

Philadelphia likewise has a spot to fill along the edge since Josh Sweat departed on the open market. Pearce, who earned first-team All-SEC acclaim for each of the past two years, is among the top speed rushers in the 2025 class. The Tennessee product has taken a number of visits recently, although – like in Nolen’s case – none of his known meetings have included time with the Eagles. Regardless of if that changes in the near future, they will be among the prospects to monitor closely regarding Philadelphia’s Day 1 approach.

Dolphins High On S Malaki Starks; No Pre-Draft Visit Planned

April 6th, 2025 at 4:10pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Dolphins, as expected, saw Jevon Holland depart on the open market. Since they have also elected not to retain fellow starter Jordan Poyer, safety is a position of need entering the draft.

Many mock drafts from the end of the 2024 campaign and shortly thereafter understandably connected Miami to safety Malaki Starks. The Georgia product has long been seen as one of the two Day 1 prospects at the position, being joined in that regard by South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori. The latter’s stock has increased since his impressive Combine performance, but Starks is still drawing interest from the Dolphins.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports the team “thinks highly” of Starks, an indication he will receive consideration for the No. 13 pick. Jackson notes no pre-draft visit has been lined up yet, but he adds general manager Chris Grier was in attendance at Georgia’s Pro Day. Information gleaned from that event will help inform the Dolphins’ decision with their top selection.

Starks made an immediate impact for the Bulldogs, starting 14 games as a freshman for the national champions. He followed that up with a highly productive season, racking up three interceptions and seven pass deflections en route to first-team All-SEC and All-American nods. The junior was unable to match those feats in 2024, with his production taking a step back. Still, he earned second-team honors on both fronts and continued to occupy a highly versatile role on Georgia’s defense.

To be clear, Jackson writes the Dolphins have strong evaluations of “several other” prospects in the range of their first-round selection. Considering Miami is also among the potential suitors which has hosted Emmanwori, Starks is certainly not a lock to be selected by the team. Nevertheless, safety is a position to watch as the Dolphins look to further re-tool at that spot during the remainder of the offseason.

Returnees Elijah Campbell and Patrick McMorris have been joined on the roster by free agent signings Ashtyn Davis and Ifeatu Melifonwu. It would come as no surprise if one or more rookies were added to that group, and Starks could be among them.

2025 NFL Draft Rumors: Saints, Packers, Falcons, Revel

March 27th, 2025 at 10:13pm CST by Ely Allen

The Saints continue to stay busy having visits with 2025 NFL Draft prospects, according to multiple reports from Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football.

Last night, the team hosted several Georgia players for dinner, including a top defensive end prospect in Mykel Williams as well as wide receiver Arian Smith. They also reportedly had dinner this week with Pittsburgh tight end Gavin Bartholomew, a likely Day 3 prospect whose name has not been making the rounds this early in the process. Lastly, the team was in Knoxville today reportedly meeting with some Tennessee players, including running back Dylan Sampson and defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott.

Underhill adds that the team has been doing a ton of work during the pre-draft process on running backs. Even though lead back Alvin Kamara had a career-high 950 rushing yards in 2024, combined with 543 receiving yards, the sheer depth of this year’s class of running back prospects nearly ensures that quality backs will be available into the fourth or fifth round. Dane Brugler of The Athletic has eight running backs listed in his top 100 prospects list, so it makes sense that New Orleans is doing its homework on the position.

Here are a few other rumors concerning possibilities in the 2025 NFL Draft:

  • The Packers currently have eight picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, but if general manager Brian Gutekunst has anything to say about it, they could be angling for more. According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, when asked about not having many picks this year, Gutekunst added the addendum “yet” to the end of the statement, indicating that he would have some interest in acquiring more picks via trade. Green Bay currently sits at No. 23 overall in the first round. It’s been posited that many teams from pick No. 20 on are looking to trade back out of the first round due to a lack of elite, top-end talent in this year’s class, as opposed to the tremendous depth the class seems to provide. Unfortunately, due to that same issue, there are going to be few, if any, takers willing to give up precious draft capital to move up into the first round.
  • One trend we seem to be seeing shows the Falcons as likely candidates to go defense in the first round of the draft. Josh Kendall of The Athletic selected safety Nick Emmanwori in the site’s beat writer mock draft, and the other players he says he considered with the pick, safety Malaki Starks, linebackers Jalon Walker and Jihaad Campbell, cornerback Will Johnson, and edges Mike Green and Shemar Stewart, all reside on the defensive side of the ball. Kendall bases this belief that the team will go defense off of new defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich wanting to build a new, uniquely hybrid defense.
  • Lastly, Ryan Fowler of The Draft Network reported today that the Cowboys will be hosting East Carolina cornerback Shavon Revel for a top-30 visit next week. We know that Revel is attempting to make a comeback from a torn ACL that ended his final collegiate season after only three games and that he is projected to be back in time for training camp. What makes this an interesting visit is that, according to Clarence Hill Jr. of All City DLLS, Revel’s ACL repair surgery was performed by Cowboys team doctor Dan Cooper, likely giving the franchise a uniquely exclusive insight on his prognosis and recovery.

Georgia Defensive Stars Declare For Draft

January 12th, 2025 at 11:05pm CST by Ely Allen

Stop me if you’ve heard this story before, but the University of Georgia is set to produce multiple first-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, specifically on the defensive side of the ball. Bulldogs linebacker Jalon Walker, safety Malaki Starks, and pass rusher Mykel Williams all took to social media last week to announce their declarations to enter the draft. All three players were five-star recruits in an incredible 2022 signing class for the Dawgs, with Williams ranking as the 10th highest rated signee in school history at the time.

Walker, out of Salisbury HS (NC), was 247Sports’ third-best linebacker and 26th-best overall recruit in the class. As a true freshman, Walker played sparingly on special teams and as a reserve insider linebacker. While getting slightly more time as a reserve insider linebacker in his sophomore campaign, Walker still found a way to lead the team with five sacks. Finally earning a full-time starting role as a junior, Walker set a career high in tackles (60) while leading the team with more career highs in tackles for loss (11) and sacks (6.5). Walker was awarded the Butkus Award for the nation’s best linebacker this year.

Now, Walker is almost certainly going to be a first-round draft pick, the only question remaining is: at what position? ESPN’s Mel Kiper and Field Yates and The Athletic’s Dane Brugler all view Walker as the top off-ball linebacker in the draft, with Kiper and Brugler rating him as the ninth- and seventh-best prospect, respectively, overall, touting his sideline-to-sideline capabilities with his elite pass rushing abilities adding versatility to his portfolio. ESPN’s Matt Miller and Jordan Reid, though, have Walker ranking third amongst edge rushers alongside Williams, predicting that Walker’s elite pass rushing ability will land him as an outside linebacker or defensive end in the NFL.

Williams, out of Hardaway HS (GA), was even higher ranked than Walker coming out of high school, with 247Sports listing him as the second-best defensive lineman and the seventh-best overall recruit in the nation. After an initial commitment to USC, Williams made a flip late in his senior year, deciding to go to Athens, instead.

As a true freshman, Williams led the team in sacks (4.5) despite only making two starts in 15 appearances of the team’s championship campaign. While Walker led the team in that stat each of the past two years, Williams was second on the team in both 2023 (4.5) and 2024 (5.0). Williams started 10 of 13 games as a sophomore, but after failing to take much of a step forward, Williams would only earn five starts this season, getting out-snapped by players like Chaz Chambliss, Damon Wilson Jr., and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins.

We’ve seen plenty examples before to show that physical tools and potential can easily outweigh a lack of production in college, and that seems to be the case with Williams. Despite his inability to show more consistency and production at Georgia, Williams’ speed, power, and bend are viewed as top-tier traits that could make him a scary weapon on an NFL defense. Kiper and his colleagues and Brugler consistently have Williams ranked as the second- or third-best pass rusher in the draft behind only Penn State’s Abdul Carter and sometimes behind Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr. Kiper lists Williams as the 16th-best overall prospect, while Brugler slots him up at eighth. 

Perhaps saving the best for last, Starks was the jewel of Georgia’s recruiting class that year out of Jefferson HS (GA), ranking as the top athlete and the fourth-best overall prospect, according to 247Sports. Starks made the biggest impact of the three as a freshman, starting 14 of 15 contests. In the championship-winning campaign, Starks tied for the team-lead in passes defensed (7) while finishing second on the team with two interceptions. He finished second in both categories as a sophomore, as well, with three interceptions and seven more passes defensed. While his ball-hawking took a backseat this past season, Starks took the team-lead in another category with 77 total tackles.

While Kiper lists Starks below Walker as the 13th best overall prospect in the draft, he and his colleagues all list Starks as the top safety prospect in the class. Brugler has Starks ranked as the fourth-best overall prospect. Starks projects so highly because of his high football intelligence and his versatile ability to make plays all over the field. He has a build closer to that of a Brian Branch than a Kyle Hamilton, but he possesses the ability both pros have to make tackles in the box, close quickly in coverage, and finish plays with good hands. It may take him a moment to live up to that comparison, but the potential is absolutely there.

While there has been a large number of perceived “busts” out of Georgia in the last few years, Starks, Walker, and Williams won’t be coasting off of the boosts often applied to winners of a national championship like Travon Walker, Quay Walker, Devonte Wyatt, and Lewis Cine, who perhaps have not lived up to their relative draft stock. Regardless, Georgia is on a three-year streak of producing multiple first-round picks, and that trend will likely continue as Starks, Walker, and Williams prepare for April.