Malaki Starks ready to take on leadership role as elder spokesperson of secondary

DALLAS — Georgia safety Malaki Starks remembers his freshman season like it was yesterday. To him, it doesn’t feel that long ago. He recalls being nervous about fall camp and relying on older players in the secondary for help through the growing pains. Now, the roles are reversed and it’s Starks who is the veteran with younger players coming to him for help.

“It really hit me this offseason when I wasn’t really practicing but I had some guys come up and ask me questions,” Starks said at SEC Media Days in Dallas. “The other day, one of the freshmen asked me about fall camp. He was freaking out about fall camp. I was like, ‘You remind me of me when I first got here.’ I was going through the same thing with Chris Smith when I first got here. Now the roles are flipped, and that’s crazy to me.”

The former five-star from just down the road in Jefferson has been a contributor for the Bulldogs since day one. In his first game against Oregon, Starks came down with an acrobatic interception. It was just the start of a special season for him and Georgia, becoming the first program to win back-to-back national titles in the College Football Playoff era with a perfect 15-0 campaign.

As a sophomore in 2023, Starks built on the success of his first year. After being named a finalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award and earning a spot on several Freshman All-American teams, Starks was a finalist for both the Jim Thorpe Award (nation’s top defensive back) and the Bronko Nagurski Award (nation’s top defensive player). He was a consensus First-Team All-American and one of the best defenders in the country regardless of position.

“Malaki, you know, he is such an incredible kid. His mom Tisha and Larry, they do a great job with him. It was a joy recruiting him. He is a local kid. He started for us since day one,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, a former UGA safety himself, said about Starks. “… He’s a quiet, humble leader. He is a very Christian young man. He represents our university the right way.”

Starks may not be the loudest leader in the room on Georgia’s talented defense, but his play does the talking for him. However, as an upperclassman now, Starks did say he’s taken it upon himself to step things up when it comes to his teammates hearing his voice. Being forced off the field this spring while recovering from shoulder surgery helped him with that.

“Being able to step away, to just look and observe, I think that helped me with my leadership role,” Starks said about missing spring practice. “I’m able to see things better now and speak up. There’s a sense of urgency about things too. It’s a lot different sitting out and not playing. I think it gave me a different perspective. Being able to sit back and look on, I’ve got a different point of view about things now.”

Combining the skill he already had with the lessons he learned this spring, Starks could be in store for an incredible junior year. Starks is seen as the top safety in the 2025 NFL Draft and a potential first round pick. He’s focused on the present though and being the type of leader in Georgia’s secondary that the Bulldogs need, replacing three key players off to the NFL.

“It’s crazy. Being that younger guy coming in and seeing how things work, making those mistakes and going through those growing pains to now being an older guy and watching the younger guys go through the same things I went through, it’s crazy because I feel like I just got here,” Starks said, reflecting on the two years of his career up to this point and what could be ahead for him. “I’m very grateful though to have that role in the DB room. I want to do the best job I can.”

“I’ve honed in on the little stuff and really tried to work on my technique, my communication skills, my leadership skills. Everything. On the field, off the field, it’s all a huge part,” he added. “I think I’m really trying to stay where my feet are at, not focus too much on the future and what it holds. I’m just trying to take care of my business right now, and the rest of the way will handle itself.”

Georgia opens fall camp in about two weeks. The Bulldogs kickoff the season against Clemson in Atlanta on August 31st.