Georgia Safety, Malaki Starks Still A Projected First Round Selection Following NFL Combine

Former Georgia safety, Malaki Starks perhaps didn't test as well as most projected, however, his field workout and career at Georgia still have him projected to be a first round pick.

The NFL Scouting Combine is a shorts and t-shirts event created to help NFL scouts, GMs, and owners decide who they want to invest draft capital in to play actual football. They test athletes from heights, weihts, and field drills designed to place a metric on the overall athleticism on of the athletes.

It wasn't quite what most expected from All-American and projected first rounder, Malaki Starks from Georgia this week. "Only" running a 4.50 in the forty. "Only" jumping 33" in the vertical. Though, Starks put on a clinic during the on-field position drills, not dropping a single ball, displaying his playmaking ability that was on showing every Saturday for Georgia.

Despite being listed as a "loser" of the event by Sportingnews.com, Starks is still seemingly a lock to be a first-round pick.

"Starks, out of Georgia, is another do-everything SEC East safety prospect, but the athleticism, speed, and measurables ended up disappointing. He is still a first-rounder, but the gap keeps closing between him and Emmanwori."

Starks' performance in a vacuum isn't the problem. The problem for Starks is that South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori had one of the greatest combine workouts in recent memory. Emmanwori jumped 43" and ran 4.38 at 220 pounds and 6'3. He was the biggest "winner" from this group. However, projections are still that Starks will remain Safety No.1 off the board in this class per the latest Mock Drafts.