There are two safeties in the 2025 NFL Draft class that stand head and shoulders above the rest, and best believe that teams with a need at the position, including the Baltimore Ravens, are keeping an eye on both.
The first of those two is South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori, a freak athlete who can lay big hits and force turnovers consistently. The second is Georgia’s Malaki Starks, who’s not as freakishly athletic, but still very versatile and a key piece of one of college football’s best defenses over the past few years. Both are great prospects who seem like near-locks to go in the first round, even though their skillsets vary.
Baltimore is most likely in the market for a safety to provide some depth behind Kyle Hamilton and Ar’Darius Washington, and both of the top safety prospects are popular picks in mock drafts.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. followed the trend, projecting Baltimore to take Starks at No. 27 overall in his latest mock draft. Emmanwori is already off the board in this scenario, going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 19 overall.
“Starks does a little bit of everything on the back end,” Kiper wrote. “He can step up into the box and stop the run. He can drop over the slot in coverage. And he can patrol center field with his closing speed. Baltimore was burned by big plays last season (58 opponent plays went for 20 or more yards, third most in the NFL). The Ravens tried a few different players at the safety spot next to Kyle Hamilton, and the midseason switch to Ar’Darius Washington helped. But Starks would be a real difference-maker.
“This is a good roster with legit Super Bowl aspirations, and GM Eric DeCosta can’t let chunk plays undo the team.”
The Ravens pulled it together on defense in the second half of the season, but it’s hard to understate how truly bad they were against the pass in the first half of the season. They were giving up nearly 300 passing yards per game and were on track to become one of the worst pass defenses in the past decade. It was only after making some personnel changes, most notably placing Washington into the starting lineup, that they began to turn it around.
Starks, who had 17 pass breakups and six interceptions in three years at Georgia, can help the Ravens in several ways. Not only would he be a quality player in his own right, but he’d allow them far greater flexibility than they do now.
If he’s there at No. 27, the Ravens would have to strongly consider taking him.
