Malaki Starks vs. Alec Pierce. That’s a battle Baltimore Ravens fans should watch closely in Week 1. The Indianapolis Colts officially named Pierce active Friday, as he’ll make his return from a heel injury.
This may pose a major opportunity for Starks. He’s looking to turn a corner in his second season and faces a tough task immediately.
When you’re a deep safety like Starks, it’s usually a good thing when you’re not at the center of attention. Against Pierce and the Colts, it’ll likely be hard to find those quiet moments. Barring Indianapolis’ $114 million wideout being limited, Starks will be challenged.
Pierce was the king of deep shots last year. Starks practically plays center field on Baltimore’s defense. It might be the biggest matchup on Sunday.
Depending on how things go, Ravens fans could learn if Starks is ready to break out in 2026.
Malaki Starks could prove he’s ready for a second-year surge in Baltimore Ravens’ opener
What will Malaki Starks look like this season? Hype is building around the former Georgia Bulldog’s potential as he enters his second NFL campaign.
In the season opener, Starks draws an immediate test against one of the more consistent deep threats: Alec Pierce. As long as he looks healthy, Pierce should be looking to take the top off Baltimore’s secondary. Starks will need to be locked in to the assignment.
Pierce is the perfect measuring stick to gauge whether or not Starks is ready for the emergence fans are hoping to see. In 2025, he led the league in yards per reception with 21.3. It wasn’t close either, as the next-closest qualifier was Calvin Ridley, who had 17.8 average yards per reception.
The route tree makes it clear that deep shots are Pierce's MO. In 2025, he ran go routes 23.8% of the time, the most of any route type. He also carried a strong 40% catch rate across 20 targets via those plays.
Evidently, Starks could have his hands full.
Of course, Starks doesn’t hold the sole responsibility to lock Pierce down. Nate Wiggins, Kyle Hamilton, and Jaylinn Hawkins may all play roles in that, too. Starks just has the primary duties in his deep quadrant of the field.
In this matchup with Indianapolis, he simply needs to be better than he was last season.
2025 wasn’t the best year for Starks. He did a decent job with a 67.9 overall grade, per Pro Football Focus, but that ranked 36th among 98 qualifying safeties. For a highly coveted first-round rookie, he left some to be desired.
Starks will be the first to admit he’s capable of so much more, too. He was part of a horrendous Ravens secondary that allowed the most 20+ yard passing plays in the NFL with 64. As a deep safety, Starks can be relied on to limit splash plays over the top—he didn’t do his best work there last year.
Obviously it wasn’t all his fault, but sometimes you need your safety to stop the bleeding and clean up the mistakes of others. If Starks can take those next steps, Jesse Minter can trust him to do just that.
And it doesn’t get better than sharpening your skills against the league-leader in yards per catch over the past two years in Week 1.
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