Defensive Coordinator Zach Orr has been impressed by Starks' willingness to engage in conversation and communicate on the field.
"I've already seen the impact that 'K-Ham' has had on Malaki with his communication, his knowledge, and just his football savvy," Orr said. "I have a great vision for those guys. I think they're going to help us out and play great football for us."
After early-season struggles in 2024, Baltimore's pass defense took a major leap when Ar'Darius Washington became a starter and Hamilton stayed primarily at free safety. Unfortunately, Washington suffered a torn Achilles last month that is expected to keep him out of action until at least November.
That makes Starks' addition to the secondary even more important, but he's not feeling extra pressure. He loves football and is confident he can be an immediate playmaker on a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
Starks said one of the biggest adjustments he's had to make so far is the different spacing of the hash marks. That has changed his "landmarks" when dropping into coverage.
"The field is completely different than college," Starks said. "When I first got here, they would say if my job was at the numbers, I was going to the college numbers, but I was missing the league numbers. So, just being able to work on that, stay after practice and just watch a lot of tape and just kind of reprogram myself into \[the mindset of\], 'This is where I'm supposed to be at,' has been the challenging thing, but it is getting a lot better with all the help, and all the reps that I'm getting is huge in my development."