Malaki Starks, Cardinals is Dream Draft Pairing

The Arizona Cardinals' biggest needs this offseason includes the entire front seven, specifically edge rushers and interior defensive lineman, and offensive linemen who don’t play left tackle (or can at least make a move to right tackle).

The Cardinals also need more depth in areas like cornerback and wide receiver.

One of the positions I didn’t name was safety, so that means Arizona shouldn’t waste any time let alone 2025 NFL Draft picks at the position, right?

Well, yes and no… because it entirely depends on who you’re looking at. Most of the class can be passed on, but Georgia’s Malaki Starks is not “most of the class.”

On the contrary, Starks is one of the best players in the upcoming draft period, not just in his position. Adding him is the perfect “Best Player Available” option for the preferred draft strategy of many GMs.

Starks is the kind of player who you put on the field and say, “Go make a play” and then he does in any form whether it’s a run stop, a tackle for loss, a touchdown-saving tackle, or a turnover. He’s Kyle Hamilton-lite, if you would.

Every team should be interested in adding him.

Yes, this includes the Cardinals.

The 2025 NFL Draft perfect fits for the Cardinals rolls on with a guy who plays a position with an excess amount of talent, depth, and names at the spot.

But by the end of this article, I think you’ll understand why I’d be running to the podium to submit this pick if Starks was somehow available with the 16th overall pick.

Profile

Former five-star recruit and consensus top-20 recruit in the nation (2022)
CFP National Champion (2022)
One-time Consensus All-American (2023)
One-time First-Team All-American (2024)
Two-time First-Team All-SEC (2023, 2024)
43 career games

The fit

Starks is a superstar who is likely to slip in the draft, at least further than he should (I have him as a top-10 player overall) due to his position. A player like that is someone who you find a spot for and let him do his thing.

No, the Cardinals don’t currently have a need for a safety (more on that later), but this is a defense that needs help across the board. There are tons of average-to-quality players starting, but most of these guys could stand to be upgraded. This includes safety, believe it or not.

There’s intrinsic value to having three starter-level safeties, especially when each does something different. Starks, of course, would be the fourth safety and I’ll talk about that more shortly. However, the value here is insane for a safety who does EVERYTHING.

I mean that, too. Starks was arguably a better run defender than a deep safety, and the latter is his specialty! Having a guy like that, a Kyle Hamilton-esc player, transformers your defense.

The logic

I can hear the comments now, “Why on earth would the Cardinals take a safety in round one when they have Budda Baker, Jalen Thompson, and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson?!” I hear you and we just mentioned that a moment ago. This seems like an excess at the position, right?

It certainly does… as of now. Thompson is no lock to be with the team next season with his current cap hit. Taylor-Demerson may not be ready to step into his shoes as a full-time starter, either. So, then who is stepping up next to Baker? After all, having three safeties is a luxury, but only having one is crippling for the backend.

That’s where Starks makes all sense in the world. He becomes and younger and cheaper option than Thompson, who you can now move on from to get some salary cap back. He is also definitively better than Taylor-Demerson is without taking a pro snap – that’s how ready Starks is.

It’s when you start to look at the bigger picture not just for 2025 but the future, as well. Starks could evolve into the next great safety for a long-storied franchise at the position. If he’s somehow available at 16, I don’t hesitate.

Day one role

Starter or heavily rotated player. Thanks for stopping by!

…. What? You want more than that? Well, I’ll paint a better picture.

With the scenario I drew up it makes sense why Starks would be a good fit for this team immediately. But what if Thompson stays? Now the Cardinals have four safeties and even I would tell you that’s an excess amount no matter how good they are individually!

But like I said, Starks is a guy you find a spot for on the field.

The Georgia standout is incredibly familiar with playing inside the slot. Starks also has amble time playing box safety. All of this in addition to his primary role as a deep safety makes him perhaps the most versatile player on this defense – and yes, I’d say he could be more versatile than Baker.

Good players find the field and Starks will have no issue getting out there from day one. He’s good enough to usurp Thompson as the starter if we’re being honest! But the bottom line is he makes your defense better and in the long run he gives you a superstar to build your foundation on.