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The 2025 NFL Draft is almost here, and Yahoo Sports experts Nate Tice and Charles McDonald are breaking down the top prospects position by position. Here are the safeties. Check out Nate and Charles' consensus big board here, along with Nate's final big board and Charles' final big board.
Other prospect rankings: QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | OLs | Edges | IDLs | LBs | CBs
1. Malaki Starks, Georgia
2. Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina
3. Andrew Mukuba, Texas
4. Billy Bowman, Oklahoma
5. Xavier Watts, Notre Dame
Here are the top five safety prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft. (Davis Long/Yahoo Sports)
Charles McDonald: Starks had an up and down season, but at his best he was one of the most dominant defensive backs in the country over the past few years. The do-it-all safety has been a major player in Georgia’s secondary since he was a freshman and looks to take his vast array of abilities to the NFL.
Starks is a Swiss Army Knife who would be a real weapon with a creative defensive coordinator.
Nate Tice: Starks is a modern two-way safety who can align all over the field, make plays and provide answers for his defensive coordinator. On just one drive watching Starks, you will see him play as a split-field safety; deep in the post; as a robber; in the box; and in the slot.
While Starks is a good tackler who is more than willing to square up and fill the run, he can get caught out of position because of a misstep and isn’t an overwhelming enough athlete to overcome it. He is still a good overall athlete, though.
Starks has the skills to play in the slot or on the back end in any type of defense. He might not have enough speed to cover every type of player in man-to-man situations, but he can be a tight end eraser and a very strong zone defender across the defense.
Nate Tice: Emmanwori is a jumbo safety who tested off the charts in Indy. He is explosive and can close quickly when he diagnoses route concepts, but his tight hips make him an inconsistent coverage defender when he has to turn and run with routes.
Emmanwori is best when he can attack downhill, either as a quarters safety or in a single-high scheme where he can keep everything in front of him. And he has the production to match his ability to close on the football.
Emmanwori’s testing doesn’t always show up with his film, but he has size, explosiveness, ball skills and is a willing tackler. This all gives him versatility (in theory) to move around the box at the next level. I would like to see him do some work from the slot, too.
Charles McDonald: Emmanwori had a monster combine that matched the tape on the field. He’s a freak of nature who can get to where he needs in a hurry. Emmanwori could still use work with his physicality at the point of attack.
Charles McDonald: Mukuba might be the fiercest defensive back in this draft class, showing no fear when it comes to decimating opponents in the open field. (See: SEC championship game.) Filling the alley is where he’ll make his big splash plays in the NFL, but he’s a great robber in the middle of the field and has some man coverage chops as well.
Charles McDonald: Bowman is a classic safety who has a nose for the ball. Oklahoma played him deep a fair amount in its defense, but his best work came when he was closer to the line of scrimmage and able to be an attacker in the open field. He has a lot of fans in the league and with his ability to find and get his hands on the football (11 interceptions over the past three years), it’s reason to see why.
Charles McDonald: Watts had a productive career on the back end for the Fighting Irish, but is more of a pure ballhawk with some room to be desired on the tackling front. However, it’s hard to ignore a whopping 13 picks over the past two seasons, which will have a lot of value to NFL teams.
Continue reading...
Other prospect rankings: QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | OLs | Edges | IDLs | LBs | CBs
1. Malaki Starks, Georgia
2. Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina
3. Andrew Mukuba, Texas
4. Billy Bowman, Oklahoma
5. Xavier Watts, Notre Dame
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Here are the top five safety prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft. (Davis Long/Yahoo Sports)
1. Malaki Starks, Georgia
Charles McDonald: Starks had an up and down season, but at his best he was one of the most dominant defensive backs in the country over the past few years. The do-it-all safety has been a major player in Georgia’s secondary since he was a freshman and looks to take his vast array of abilities to the NFL.
Starks is a Swiss Army Knife who would be a real weapon with a creative defensive coordinator.
Nate Tice: Starks is a modern two-way safety who can align all over the field, make plays and provide answers for his defensive coordinator. On just one drive watching Starks, you will see him play as a split-field safety; deep in the post; as a robber; in the box; and in the slot.
While Starks is a good tackler who is more than willing to square up and fill the run, he can get caught out of position because of a misstep and isn’t an overwhelming enough athlete to overcome it. He is still a good overall athlete, though.
Starks has the skills to play in the slot or on the back end in any type of defense. He might not have enough speed to cover every type of player in man-to-man situations, but he can be a tight end eraser and a very strong zone defender across the defense.
2. Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina
Nate Tice: Emmanwori is a jumbo safety who tested off the charts in Indy. He is explosive and can close quickly when he diagnoses route concepts, but his tight hips make him an inconsistent coverage defender when he has to turn and run with routes.
Emmanwori is best when he can attack downhill, either as a quarters safety or in a single-high scheme where he can keep everything in front of him. And he has the production to match his ability to close on the football.
Emmanwori’s testing doesn’t always show up with his film, but he has size, explosiveness, ball skills and is a willing tackler. This all gives him versatility (in theory) to move around the box at the next level. I would like to see him do some work from the slot, too.
Charles McDonald: Emmanwori had a monster combine that matched the tape on the field. He’s a freak of nature who can get to where he needs in a hurry. Emmanwori could still use work with his physicality at the point of attack.
3. Andrew Mukuba, Texas
Charles McDonald: Mukuba might be the fiercest defensive back in this draft class, showing no fear when it comes to decimating opponents in the open field. (See: SEC championship game.) Filling the alley is where he’ll make his big splash plays in the NFL, but he’s a great robber in the middle of the field and has some man coverage chops as well.
4. Billy Bowman, Oklahoma
Charles McDonald: Bowman is a classic safety who has a nose for the ball. Oklahoma played him deep a fair amount in its defense, but his best work came when he was closer to the line of scrimmage and able to be an attacker in the open field. He has a lot of fans in the league and with his ability to find and get his hands on the football (11 interceptions over the past three years), it’s reason to see why.
5. Xavier Watts, Notre Dame
Charles McDonald: Watts had a productive career on the back end for the Fighting Irish, but is more of a pure ballhawk with some room to be desired on the tackling front. However, it’s hard to ignore a whopping 13 picks over the past two seasons, which will have a lot of value to NFL teams.
Continue reading...
