OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Things certainly feel different this year for Baltimore Ravens safety Malaki Starks and that’s not just because he has a new coach and new defensive coordinator.The Ravens’ 2025 first-round pick, Starks acknowledges that his rookie season was a blur. He finished his final season at Georgia and quickly pivoted to preparing for the NFL Draft. Less than a week after the Ravens drafted him with the 27th pick, Starks was taking part in his first NFL practices and immediately lining up as a starter.Starks started 15 of 17 games as a rookie and collected 84 tackles, two interceptions and four pass breakups. However, he looks back on last season and concedes that he didn’t play up to his standard. He also talked excitedly about how much more comfortable he feels as a second-year player.The Athletic spoke to Starks after the conclusion of the team’s recent mandatory minicamp and got his thoughts on his new head coach, Jesse Minter, the different energy at the team facility, and how he’s getting ready for the 2026 season.Who will be at center for the Ravens?Jeff Zrebiec and Madison EadesWhat have your early impressions been of Jesse Minter?Super intelligent. The way that he thinks is all about winning. In practices and in meetings, everything is about winning and you can see it throughout the organization, how meetings are run, how walk-throughs are run, how practices are run, how people talk to you in the building. Everything impacts winning and that’s one of the really big things that sticks out to me. His leadership has been one of the best that I’ve ever seen.After the Ravens hired Minter, did you study his defense in Los Angeles or his other defenses to get a better idea of how you’ll be utilized?The Chargers really were a dominant defense and they really liked their safeties. They wanted them to go make plays on the ball, so there was a lot of watching them and seeing how they play certain things and how they do certain things. Now that he’s here and running a similar defense, I’m really excited.Whenever there’s a major change in terms of leadership, there’s usually a new energy and a different vibe in the building. Have you sensed that?Without a doubt. You could sense it the first day everybody got back. No knock to coach (John) Harbaugh at all, but there’s just an excitement and a readiness to be here under coach Minter. There’s just a new way to do things.Could you also immediately sense among the players how much everybody wants to put last year behind them?Oh yeah, without a doubt. Everybody is getting a clean slate, whether you played really good or you played really bad last year. You’re not in the same position that you were in last year. Everybody gets a new start. I think that’s one of the messages that was brought to us the first day and I think everybody is just super excited about this year.If you were to give yourself a grade for your rookie season, what would it be and why?Realistically, I probably would go C-plus, B-minus. I think I know how to play at an elite level and I think I know what that looks like. I don’t think that’s what it looked like for myself last year, flying around and making plays, and being more productive around the football. That’s a really big thing for me and I think I can take another step in that direction.When you studied yourself on tape from last season, is there a play that stands out where you said, “In Year 2, I’ll be able to make that play because I’ve seen it before and I’m more comfortable?”There were a few. I got one against Houston when they threw the corner post throwback and the one against Pittsburgh obviously, where I could have picked it. It was basically the same route. Then, there were some tackles and some missed run fits. Just looking back on it, I’m a lot smarter than I was then and I’m a lot faster, a lot bigger and a lot stronger than I was. I’m just excited to get to work.Players talk often about how difficult it is to transition to the NFL as a rookie, particularly because of how long the pre-draft process is and how quick the turnaround is from the draft to getting on an NFL field. Given the chance to take a step back after your rookie season, did you prepare any differently because you had more time?Yeah, I think it’s very different. It doesn’t matter who you are. When you go through that draft process, you’re starting behind already. You’re coming into something that’s new. I think just that alone gives me a breath of fresh air. Even though it’s something new, I’m not new to it. I’ve been preparing my body. This offseason, I really got into pilates. I ran a little bit more. I started cooking a little bit more. Things like that, things I didn’t do last year.How has pilates helped you?I think it teaches me how to use the small muscles. There’s a lot of muscles that we have that we may not know we’re using or we may not know how to use them. I think activating all of those muscles has allowed me to expand more than I was before.Is your goal to play at a little higher weight?It wasn’t intentional. I just came back and just from all of the workouts, I got a little more muscle. I came back at like 214. I played last year at like 202. But I weighed in at like 207 today. I feel like I run better when I’m heavier. I also just feel like if I can add more weight and I still move well, then why not? I have to hit some pretty heavy people. I don’t mind being a little bit bigger at all.Starks, right, benefited from playing in the secondary last season with Kyle Hamilton, a Pro Bowler the past three seasons and one of the league’s top safeties. (Nathan Ray Seebeck / Imagn Images)You have Kyle Hamilton, who many believe is the best safety in football. You have Jaylinn Hawkins who is coming off a really good season for New England. What has it been like to work with those two guys this offseason?I really understand how to dive into it more. Coming in last year, I’ve always been a sponge at every place that I’ve been. But now, we’re all three able to sit in a circle and talk about things and I can say, “OK, this is what I’m seeing,” and really understand what I’m talking about. We all have input and we’re all getting each other’s point of view on things. It’s just helping my game grow more.Was it tougher to speak up as a rookie because you felt you still had so much to learn?I don’t think it was necessarily hard. I think it was harder to give my point of view on things because you may not feel like you have as loud of a voice as a rookie. They did an amazing job making me feel like I did, but it’s all new. Now that I’ve been through it, I can see it through a different lens.What is your focus over these next several weeks before returning to training camp?I’m going to go home and spend a lot of time with the family. I’ll probably spend all of my time in Georgia. I’m going to train a good bit. I’m going to work on my body, work on my mind. I’m going to get back with Jon Gruden. I trained with him before the draft, so I’m going to get back with him and pick his brain a little bit.What’s your relationship like with Gruden?It’s awesome. I trained with him for the draft. He prepped me for the draft and we’ve been really cool ever since. Just to learn from a guy like him and have him as a resource, I think it will be huge.You and your longtime girlfriend Savanna got married this offseason. How was that day?It was beautiful. I’ve never been to a wedding before. My first time going to a wedding was my own. But it was so special. It was perfect. She looked gorgeous. It was a good opportunity and a good moment for us. We were just very excited to start a new chapter in our lives.Did you go on a honeymoon?No. It was still kind of up in the air, because they hadn’t quite hired Jesse yet. When you get a new coach, they can bring you back early. I didn’t want to plan a honeymoon and then be like, “Hey, I have to be back in Baltimore in three days.” I think we’re just going to pick it up at a later date.What are your expectations for this season?I just want to fly around and have fun. When people watch me, I want to jump off the tape. That’s always been my personality, that’s always been my standard — production around the football. I also want to really dive into a leadership role on the team and bring guys along with me and become a voice in the locker room.