Ravens Rookie Starter Reveals Areas for Improvement

Despite having played 98% of the Ravens' total defensive snaps, most by any defender on the team, Starks has yet to get his hands on the ball for an interception or even a pass breakup. He is tied for the second-most tackles on the team with 34, trailing only fellow rookie Teddye Buchanan, who is a fourth-rounder that was thrust into a full-time starting role by necessity, yet only one of his takedowns has come behind the line of scrimmage for a loss.

When asked to give an assessment of how he believes he has played over the first month of his rookie campaign, Starks spoke candidly about not getting caught up in counting stats while still outlining areas where he needs to improve.

"I think I have very high expectations [for myself]," Starks said. "I don't pay attention to the stats or whatever. As long as the play gets made, it gets made. But I think my biggest thing is just trusting myself, trusting what I see, trusting what I feel and just going out there, playing and having fun. I think I'm still learning. I'm going to be learning for a long time. I mean, everybody is, but I think really just playing ball, just cutting it loose; I think that's the one thing I really want to focus on, just going out there and being myself."

In a follow-up question, he was asked if he believed that he was playing tentatively at times and simply overthinking too much. In the NFL, the slightest hesitation can be the fraction of a second difference between a defender being able to get in the right place to make a play on the ball or being a step late and getting it thrown over their head, zipped past the earhole of their helmet or just past their outstretched hands for completion, big play or even a touchdown.

"Sometimes I'll see something, and it'll be like a split second where I think about it," Starks said. "There is no time for that in football. Just when you see it, you go. I think that's what I just want to get to."

The 21-year-old already had one of the best resources to learn from, lining up next to him in two-time All Pro Kyle Hamilton, who became the highest-paid safety in the league this offseason and is universally recognized as one of, if not the best, player at the position in the league.

With the recent additions of veterans Alohi Gilman and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, he now how two more proven playmaking defensive backs he is eager to learn from as he looks to blossom into the difference-maker the Ravens envisioned he'd be when they took him No. 27 overall out of the University of Georgia.

"It's awesome, especially for me as a rookie, just really learning from guys who have so much experience," Starks said. "I got a chance to talk to both of them today, a lot. How they view the game of football and just that older presence in the room, you can never complain about that. So, just coming here [today] and meeting them, seeing them going out to practice today, it always brings a new type of energy to the room, so we're all excited."