Why don’t they build the whole plane out of safeties?
It’s not often that you get an absolutely off-the-wall selection for the Green Bay Packers in a mock draft the week of the draft. Analysts have had months to study the class and team’s draft needs, preventing this sort of thing. With that being said, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the beauty of what Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio just executed.
Florio, in his only mock draft of the season, had the Packers taking a Georgia Bulldog defender. That isn’t a surprise, considering the team has taken Quay Walker, Devonte Wyatt, Eric Stokes and Javon Bullard high in recent drafts — all on the defensive side of the ball. What is a shock, though, is which Bulldog he has going to Green Bay: safety Malaki Starks.
The Packers have virtually no need for a safety. Last offseason, they signed Xavier McKinney, who made the All-Pro list, and drafted three more. Already, if free agent signing Nate Hobbs is going to play in the slot like many in the league expect, it will be a struggle for Bullard, a second-year second-rounder, to get playing time. Bullard already lost the starting safety job to fourth-round pick Evan Williams last season, which pushed Bullard into the slot role. Now, it looks like he will have to compete there with Hobbs, who has the advantage of coming in at a high price tag.
Starks is a two-time All-American, but is a safety or slot defender after running a 4.50-second 40-yard dash time. This isn’t a Damarious Randall situation, where the Packers take a college safety and move him to outside cornerback because of his rare athleticism.
To be frank, I’m not sure how Starks would move the needle for the Packers at all, considering how set they are at safety and the slot. At some point, you’re building a football team, not blindly collecting talent.
If you wanted to draw up how to have the fan base completely meltdown to the point of a possible citizens’ arrest of general manager Brian Gutekunst on Thursday, this is how you’d draw it up. Congrats to Florio for trickling this new fear into my brain less than 24 hours before the draft officially kicks off. Just start the damn draft already.