ESPN draft expert believes Eagles should raid Georgia's cupboard again in 2025

Call it 'the rich getting richer' or 'stocking the cupboard'. Maybe it's the result of existing during a slow news cycle. Dang... The Philadelphia Eagles can't get back on the field fast enough.

There are only so many times that we can dissect Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. We can only rank the top 25 Eagles wide receivers in franchise history once. The same rules apply to the team's top running backs. We have discussed the new draft class until we're blue in the face.

What's left? Oh yeah... We can try a way-too-early 2025 NFL mock draft. No, wait... We did that too. So, here's what we did. We perused the internet in hopes to find another. There's no point in reinventing the wheel, right?

ESPN draft analyst mocks Georgia safety Malaki Starks to the Eagles in his 2025 mock draft.

Despite Philly's stacked roster, we have all discussed depth and it being a tad top-heavy. Just under 30 guys are entering the coming regular season on expiring or one-year deals. The defensive secondary looks better than it has in a while (on paper at least), but that doesn't stop one of the more trusted draft voices from theorizing that adding another body would be ideal.

ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller offered an early 2025 NFL mock draft. This one is interesting. Georgia's Carson Beck goes first overall to the New York Giants. His teammate lands with Philly 27 selections later.

Miller mocks safety Malaki Starks to the Birds at the 28th-overall selection. This one sits behind a paywall on ESPN Plus, so we won't share any direct quotes, but here are a couple of theories that we can add as a response.

1. This selection is a bit out of character for Philly, but that's what we said last season.

You've heard this 200 times, but it bears repeating. The Eagles, before taking Quinyon Mitchell on night one last season, had only taken three defensive backs in Round 1 in their history. The most recent was Lito Sheppard (2002).

While Starks can ball, Philly also took Cooper DeJean in Round 2 this past April. We may be looking at the selection of an offensive lineman or an edge rusher come the 2025 selection meeting.

2. Here's how the Eagles look at the safety position right now.

Philly's current preseason roster houses five safeties: Andre' Sam, Tristin McCollum C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Reed Blankenship, and Sydney Brown. C.J.G.J., Reed, and Sydney are the only guys that we're sure will make the roster.

We have seen the Birds occasionally dedicate one roster spot at the safety position for a special teams player. We have also seen Avonte Maddox cross train there.

While this isn't often treated like a priority position by the franchise, they have a nice young trio. Who knows? We may even see Coop back there at some point.

3. Here's a look at Malaki Starks' numbers.

Starks is a six-foot-one, 205-pounder that hails from Jefferson, Georgia. He's a College Football Playoff National Champion (2022) who was a Consensus All-American and First-Team All-SEC nod in 2023.

So far, he has notched 120 total tackles, 14 pass breakups, and five interceptions in 29 careeer games. His selection by the Birds may seem unlikely, but he's someone to place on the draft board.