If the 2025 offseason has given us any indication it is that the Seattle Seahawks plan on building future success on how good the defense is. While there has been major turnover on the offense, the defense has remained nearly intact and has been added to by the team signing former Dallas Cowboys edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence.
Sure, Seattle added the best quarterback on the free-agent market by bringing in Sam Darnold, and the team also signed wide receiver Cooper Kupp. So, yeah, there is no Geno Smith, DK Metcalf, or Tyler Lockett, but there are Darnold, Kupp, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. How good that trio is will not be known until well into next season.
The defense, though, that should be good. It better be as Seattle brought back its key defensive free agents and added Lawrence. Plus, this team is now being built in the image of head coach Mike Macdonald, even though general manager John Schneider is in charge of all final roster moves. Macdonald is a defensive-minded coach, and the team will rise or fall based on that.
Safety Malaki Starks could be a great steal for the Seattle Seahawks in the 2025 NFL draft
The unit that hasn't truly been addressed but needed to be was and is the offensive line. Seattle lost left guard Laklen Tomlinson in free agency, but no player has been signed yet to replace him. And no, free-agent acquisition Josh Jones does not count. He shouldn't, anyway.
Seattle will likely address the line in the NFL draft, but to what degree is unknown. Schneider does not have a history of taking interior offensive linemen first. This implies Seattle will wait in the 2025 draft to take a guard or center until the second round or (much) later.
In other words, a defensive player could be the team's first pick. Even if Seattle trades back, this could be the case. But let's assume they stand pat at number 18 for a moment. It would not be surprising if the Seahawks chose safety Malaki Starks in round one.
Julian Love is cemented as one starter at safety for the Seahawks. Coby Bryant finally got his chance to play at safety last season, and he was quite good. He is also entering the final year of his rookie deal. Plus, prior to 2024, Macdonald liked to use a lot of three-safety sets in his scheme because that helped disguise pre-snap alignments.
Starks, who many NFL mocks have going after pick 18, would be a steal for Seattle. The 6'1" and 200-pound player from Georgia has a very high football IQ, is great against the run, and has the speed to cover deep. Even better, he can play either free or strong safety, and that versatility is going to be something Mike Macdonald loves.
Does he need to work on his tackling positioning and not be faked out by trickery? Sure, but what college player doesn't? Starks would learn a lot under Macdonald, who has a way of making safeties great, and Starks could turn out to be Seattle's best safety since Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor.
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