It’s always mock draft season, even with training camp in full swing and roster cuts looming. In a recent way too early look ahead to the 2025 NFL draft, ESPN’s Field Yates had the Colts getting some needed help at safety.
In this mock draft, the Colts held the 14th overall selection and took Malaki Starks from Georgia.
Starks is listed at 6-1, 205 pounds, and is a very good athlete who can wear different hats on the back end of the Colts’ defense. In two seasons with Georgia up to this point, Starks has mostly played free safety, but does have slot and box experience as well–totaling over 300 snaps at each of those positions.
During those two seasons, Starks has been a sound tackler, missing only eight of his 130 total attempts, according to PFF. Entering his third collegiate seasons, Starks is an ascending player with his play across the board improving from 2022 to 2023.
This past year, his completion percentage when targeted plummeted to just 51 percent. He allowed only 11.1 yards per catch, had increased ball production and the opposing quarterbacks’ collective passer rating dipped to only 61.6. In addition to all of that, by PFF’s metrics, Starks was also one of the better run defenders at the safety position in 2023.
Here is a snippet of what Yates had to say about Starks in his mock draft:
“Starks has incredible range and instincts, allowing him to play snaps as a deep middle-of-the-field defender. But he also has the power, run-game willingness and force to play as an in-the-box safety. And Starks’ tape shows he can handle slot coverage over tight ends and even some wideouts thanks to his elite play speed.”
Many thought that the Colts should have addressed the safety position this past offseason after inconsistent play in 2023. However, no outside additions were made.
With training camp nearing an end, while Nick Cross seems to be the front-runner for the starting spot next to Julian Blackmon, overall, little clarity has been gained up to this point, with this position group still facing plenty of unknowns.
Next offseason, those both short and long-term concerns are still likely to be there. Blackmon will again be a free agent, as will Ronnie Harrison while Nick Cross and Rodney Thomas will each have just one year left on his rookie deals at that point.