Ever since the Baltimore Ravens selected Malaki Starks with the 27th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, it seemed like the perfect fit. From draft night onward, this has looked like the optimal marriage between organization and player prospect.
And it’s not just on paper, or in theory either. We’re seeing it on a personal level as the rookie safety is gelling with coaches at every level of the staff.
It all starts at the top, with head coach John Harbaugh.
“I love him,” the former Georgia Bulldog said of Harbaugh in an exclusive with RG. “He’s a great leader, and just his sense of calmness that he brings to the organization — he’s so competitive, he’s so controlled, everything is so controlled. He has a plan for everything. It’s really cool just to see that process of going about things.”
During his 17 years in Baltimore, Harbaugh has reached the playoffs 12 times and finished with a losing record just twice. Just like Harbaugh has been a consistent winner in Baltimore, Starks consistently racked up honors in Athens, GA. He earned freshman All-American honors in 2022 while starting for a College Football Playoff National Championship team.
In 2023, Starks was a consensus All-American, and in 2024, he earned first-team All-American honors while achieving first-team All-SEC for the second time.
At the coordinator level, Ravens DC Zach Orr sung the praises of Starks at his post-draft press conference: “Not a lot of people can do what Malaki Starks can do on the football field.”
Orr later added that he regarded Starks to be the best overall defensive player on the Ravens’ draft board. Starks played multiple positions within the secondary at Georgia, and that versatility has won over the Ravens’ coaching staff. Orr will be the first to tell you that the Ravens don’t exactly lock guys into just one slot, and he sees Starks as a natural fit for this practice, or principle.
And then finally, at the position group level, the return of Chuck Pagano seems perfectly timed to Starks’ rookie season. Both men seem to eat, sleep, and breathe football, with matching powerful work ethics.
In a recent media opportunity, Starks thanked Pagano for sending him a text message at 5 am. Starks texted Pagano: “That’s how I want to be coached.”