With the 2025 NFL draft a few months away, Georgia Bulldogs safety Malaki Starks is considered one of the best players in the draft. Almost every mock draft pegs him as a mid-to-late first round pick, but the Super Bowl might've helped his draft stock improve.
The Philadelphia Eagles relied on a ton of Cover 2 and match coverage to stop the offense of the Kansas City Chiefs . Match coverage relies a ton on the corners understanding what the offense is going to run. Nickel/slot cornerbacks have a lot of pressure under them, because while the perimeter corners can hand off a receiver to the safety if they don't match up well to the receiver, nickel corners are almost always playing man. Nickel corners could also be on the hook for the tight end if the linebacker can't hang with him.
Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean put up a masterful performance as the nickel corner this year, but his shining moment was the Super Bowl. His pick six off Patrick Mahomes made the score 17-0 and helped put the game out of reach. The whole game, DeJean only let up a 69.3 passer rating, with most of the passes coming in garbage time.
What does this have to do with Malaki Starks? Well, Starks not only has experience playing safety, but experience as the nickel corner as well. He had 271 snaps as the slot corner for Georgia. He showed significant upside in coverage, allowing a passer rating of 61 or lower in five games, including the games against Clemson, Tennessee , and the Sugar Bowl vs. Notre Dame.
The Super Bowl was the coming-out-party for the nickel corner. With Malaki Starks' experience as a nickel corner, his draft stock could be on the rise.
This article originally appeared on UGA Wire: Why the Super Bowl increased UGA DB Malaki Starks' draft stock
