Vikings Evidently Have a “Dream” Draft Target
He wouldn’t be the first on every Minnesota Vikings fan’s list of dream draft targets, but Bleacher Report claimed this week that a safety represented the best option.
Vikings Evidently Have a “Dream” Draft Target
That popular website assigned a “dream draft target” to each NFL team this week, and for Minnesota, Georgia safety Malaki Starks got the nod.
“Sometimes, it pays to not have many glaring weaknesses at premium positions. The Vikings don’t have a perfect roster, but they also don’t have to force a pick in the first round. That’s how they wound up with Malaki Starks in our latest mock draft, and it just so happens that could be the best-case scenario. He is a top-five player on our big board, but there hasn’t been a safety taken in the first round in four of the last five NFL drafts,” BR’s Alex Ballentine opined.
That dream pick might, in fact, inspire groans from Vikings loyalists, mainly because the club drafted another Georgia safety, Lewis Cine, three years ago, who emphatically did not work out in Minnesota or elsewhere to date.
Ballentine continued, “Starks is bound to break that trend, but the question is where. The positional value of a safety is questionable, but Harrison Smith (36) has to retire eventually and Camryn Bynum is a free agent. Starks would be an impact player right away.”
Not for nothing — that’s basically what the world said about Cine leading up to the 2022 NFL Draft.
Ballentine might be onto something about safety, though. Long-time defender Harrison Smith could retire this offseason, while safety Camryn Bynum is on tap to hit free agency in 12 days. If both depart, Minnesota has Josh Metellus and Jay Ward on the roster at safety for 2025, and then that’s about it.
The Draft Network‘s Keith Sanchez describes Starks’ scouting report: “Malaki Starks is a versatile defensive back for the Georgia Bulldogs who has been a playmaker since he stepped foot on campus as a freshman. Starks checks all of the boxes of a modern safety and can play at all three levels of the defense — in the slot, cover man-to-man, and make plays on the football to get turnovers.
“Starks plays in a complex defense that asks a lot of their defensive backs and he delivers.”
If the Vikings do not take the plunge on Starks in Round 1 but still want a rookie safety, other options like Nick Emmanwori (South Carolina), Xavier Watts (Notre Dame), and Kevin Winston Jr. (Penn State) should be available in Round 2 or later.
Starks is 21 years old and 6’0″ + 185 pounds.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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