Vikings Have a Dream Target in the Draft
The NFL calendar is unstoppable, and the cycle has almost reached free agency. Teams can acquire new players in only 12 days, and the new guys can sign contracts in exactly 14 days.
A few weeks later, the NFL draft will be in the spotlight. Barring a trade out of the first round, the Vikings will make their first pick on April 24th.
Vikings Have a Dream Target in the Draft
GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah could use the pick in countless different ways. The club needs to strengthen the trenches on both sides of the ball; Kevin O’Connell needs a new running back amid Aaron Jones’ potential departure, and coordinator Brian Flores is currently slated to work with empty position rooms in the secondary.
Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine thinks going safety makes sense for the Vikings, especially if they can get their hands on top safety prospect Malaki Starks out of the University of Georgia.
Ballentine wrote, “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.”
Indeed, the Vikings need to rebuild their safety room. Starter Cam Bynum is in his final days under contract, and his decent play in the last two seasons might have priced him out of the Twin Cities after four years with the organization that selected him in the fourth round of the 2021 draft.
His counterpart, Harrison Smith, is contemplating retirement and might call it a career at the age of 35. Even if he decided to return for another season, the Vikings need a long-term successor sooner rather than later. Currently, only 2023 fourth-rounder Jay Ward and versatile defender Joshua Metellus are the only safeties under contract.
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.”
Starks could fill that void. In three seasons and 43 games with the Georgia Bulldogs, he tabulated 197 tackles and six interceptions.
His draft choice would raise some eyebrows in Minnesota three years after Lewis Cine’s selection. The fact that he is from the same school and playing the same position isn’t helping. However, Starks is not Cine.
Bleacher Report wrote about the defender a couple of months ago: “Malaki Starks is a highly athletic and instinctive safety prospect from Georgia, standing at 6’1″ and weighing 205 pounds. A consensus All-American with a strong track record in one of the nation’s top defenses, Starks is widely regarded as one of the top safeties in the 2025 NFL Draft. His blend of speed, physicality, and football intelligence makes him a versatile asset capable of impacting the game in multiple ways.”
Starks could be the long-term replacement for Smith in the backend of the defense. He will likely hear his name called around the time the Vikings make their first selection in the 2025 draft.
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Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt