Eagles could find CJ Gardner-Johnson replacement in former Georgia Bulldogs star
The Philadelphia Eagles are definitely in the market for a safety after trading C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans earlier this week, and they could find their answer in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft. Everyone knows that the Eagles are big fans of Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs, considering they already have six in their lineup, […]
The Philadelphia Eagles are definitely in the market for a safety after trading C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans earlier this week, and they could find their answer in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft.
Everyone knows that the Eagles are big fans of Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs, considering they already have six in their lineup, so what's one more?
Former Georgia star safety Malaki Starks would be the perfect replacement for CJGJ.
The only downside is that the Eagles would most likely have to trade up from their original No. 32 overall pick in Round 1 of the draft.
Starks racked up 197 tackles and six interceptions in three seasons at Georgia before declaring for this year's draft. He had a questionable NFL Combine performance but put any doubts to rest with solid testing at Georgia's Pro Day.
The Eagles had at least one representative on site at Georgia's Pro Day, but then again, so did all 31 other teams, which could mean that landing Starks may be competitive.
However, it helps that Starks made it clear at the combine that it would be an "honor" to reunite with his former Bulldogs teammates.
"My freshman year, Jalen Carter sat across from me. When I got to Georgia, I was expecting, like, they had all these people, great guys, some people probably stuck up, or whatever it may be, but everybody was cool," Starks said. "And I remember JC and Javon Bullard, like I remember standing at my locker one day, and JC walked up to me. He was like, 'Go get it. Go get it. You can do it. I see you, keep working.'
"And that just kind of gave me that confidence. Because you know, if you ask me, JC is the best player I've ever played with, hands down. And I think just the thing that you doing in league, you just see it as well. So just being with those guys, that standard on the Smith, those guys, really played a really big part in my role at the University of Georgia. So it would an honor to play with them for sure."
The Eagles need a ball-hawking safety to keep their secondary intact, and Starks would love to play with his brothers again. It's a perfect fit.
Howie Roseman needs to do his thing on draft day and go get him.
