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Georgia Bulldogs 23 for '23: No. 10 Malaki Starks

Palmber-Thombsby:Palmer Thombs•07/19/23•

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Malaki Starks
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Georgia’s turn at SEC Media Days has passed, and with that the focus is very quickly turning to the football field. Fall camp begins in just about two weeks, and we’re counting down the days with out look at who the most important Bulldogs might be.

As we’ve stated before, important can have different definitions. Some players’ importance for this season is based on their past performance and ability to repeat that this fall. For others, it’s about their potential and what living up to it would mean for Georgia and its chances at winning a third straight National Championship. Now at No. 10 on our list of most important Bulldogs, safety Malaki Starks.

Malaki Starks

Position: Defensive Back (Safety)
Class: Sophomore
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 205 pounds

Hometown (High School): Jefferson, Ga. (Jefferson)

Freshman phenom Malaki Starks is back for his sophomore season and should be even better. That’s because you’d expect a player of Starks’ caliber to have done all the right things to progress during the offseason and grow from the experiences he had in his first year on campus.

Starks, a former five-star, started 14 of 15 games for Georgia at safety. Early in the season he split time with Dan Jackson before taking control of the job. When Jackson got hurt, the safety spot was all Starks’.

Starks finished third on the team in tackles with 68 stops. He played a team-high number of snaps (847) while also leading the Bulldogs in pass breakups with seven. Starks pulled in a pair of interceptions, both of which came in the first three games of the year, on his way to being named a finalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award.

There’s obviously still room to grow. At times he made mistakes. However, Starks also was able to make up for those mistakes with big plays due to his incredible athleticism. That kind of ability is what has him on preseason All-American lists, early 2025 NFL Draft watch lists and in the top 10 for Georgia’s most important players.

It’s important that he continues to grow. It’s important that he’s better than he was last year. If he’s able to accomplish that, Starks can not only be one of Georgia’s most important players in 2023 but also one of the most important players to his team’s success this season in the entire country.

Know the Quote

“I think the people that were in front of me taught me how to do it,” Starks said during a podcast appearance about being a leader on Georgia’s defense this year. “We still have guys there, like Juvan Bullard, Kamari Lassiter, and Tykee Smith, those are our leaders. I’m still learning from them, but the things they taught me so far, I feel I’m going to bring that type of leadership to the table too.”

Click here to find the complete rundown of our 23 for ’23 series

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