With the NFL Combine in the rearview mirror, we at Pewter Report have you covered on which prospects the Bucs have spoken to. Over the next two weeks, I am going to provide you, the reader, with brief scouting reports on the players the team had formal visits with. You can check out our first article on the wide receivers here, and cornerbacks can be found here. We are now on to safeties.
Malaki Starks – Georgia
Georgia S Malaki Starks – Photo by: USA Today
Height – 6’0.875
Weight – 197
Arm Length – 31.625
40 – 4.50
Vert – 33
Broad – N/A
3-cone – 7.26
Short shuttle – 4.45
Starks is awesome. He is a rare blend of movement skills, amazing instincts and sure tackling all together. He is an incredibly versatile chess piece with over 500 snaps in the box, up top and in the slot in just three seasons. This makes him a potential fit for just about every team in the NFL, including the Bucs.
With Tampa Bay though, he adds an additional opportunity, as they already have a chess piece in Antoine Winfield Jr. The combination of the two would give the Bucs an incredible chance to get extremely multiple in their pre- and post-snap pictures with both players moving all over the field.
In the slot, he can play man coverage both inside and outside whether the rep requires man or zone coverage. In man, he sifts through traffic from stacks and bunches quickly and rarely gets lost in the wash. He can keep up with almost any receiver with quick feet and solid long speed. And he can get his head around to make late plays on the ball.
From the box or deep, he has active eyes that empower him to make quick decisions with good burst to pinch and crash routes quickly. But he never comes in uncontrolled, so he is consistent in his breakdowns and a secure tackler who rarely misses. Because of this, he works well in the box as a run enforcer who can pick up over the ball routes from in-line tight ends and run the seam well.
While not a complete player, that may be less due to a lack of skill and more due to a lack of opportunities. He was only asked to rush the passer a total of 21 times in his career at Georgia, generating just five total pressures. But given the rest of his skill set, I believe this is an area of his game that still has quite a bit of room to grow.
Ignore the testing with Malaki Starks and bet on the smart safeties. He carries verticals plenty well navigates picks/traffic as well as anyone in coverage. pic.twitter.com/0bXb6jw7CP
— Mathias Cubillan (@mathiascubillan) February 28, 2025
Career Stats (Via PFF) – 160 tck, 41 atck, 6.9% MTR, 44 stops, 0 FF, 60.8% catch rate allowed, 0.83 yds/cov rep, 6 INT, 14 PBU, 18 FI
Starks is currently seen as a first-round pick by most consensus boards.
Xavier Watts – Notre Dame
Notre Dame S Xavier Watts – Photo by: USA Today
Height – 6’0
Weight – 204
Arm Length – 31.25
40 – N/A
Vert – N/A
Broad – N/A
3-cone – N/A
Short shuttle – N/A
The Bucs have publicly expressed an interest in finding ballhawks this draft cycle, so it makes sense they are interested in Watts, who had 13 interceptions and two forced fumbles in his career at Notre Dame. Watts’ ballhawking is a product of his ability to anticipate route distributions and quickly trigger to the ball with an aggressive mindset and an explosive burst.
Where Watts lacks is as a run defender, where he can narrow his angles and lose containment to the outside and over commit to the ball carrier that leaves him out of control. I was also not a fan of his efforts as a blitzer. His pressure rates are fantastic, (38.24% career pressure rate) but watching him, he is often blown off of his path by running backs left in to pass protect. He also has stiff hips that I think contribute to some of his struggles transitioning to take down ball carriers.
#ND S Xavier Watts is one of my favorite players in the class. He’s a highly instinctual player who showcases top-tier FB IQ + Play Recognition.
Over the past two seasons: 13 INTs, 14 PBUs, 0 TDs allowed, 1 penalty
The former WR/LB has become a legit ballhawk in the backend. pic.twitter.com/loYBlGINAj
— Noah Compton (@nerlens_) January 23, 2025
Career Stats – 154 tck, 45 atck, 13.5% MTR, 58 stops, 2 FF, 57.1% catch rate allowed, 0.54 yds/cov rep, 13 INT, 10 PBU, 13 FI
Watts is currently seen as a second- or third-round pick by consensus boards.
Jonas Sanker – Virginia
Virginia S Jonas Sanker Photo by: USA Today
Height – 6’0.375
Weight – 206
Arm Length – 32.25
40 – 4.48
Vert – 35.4
Broad – 10’08
3-cone – N/A
Short shuttle – N/A
Sanker tested as an elite athlete at the combine, with an unofficial 9.54 Relative Athletic Score from Kent Lee Platte’s system. And on film, it shows. He has a quick and explosive trigger. Add in long arms and good technique and you have the makings of a solid tackler who can be a net plus as a run defender from the second level.
But what has me very interested in Sanker is his football IQ. He is quick to process, sift and make his way to the ball. That led him to an incredibly impressive 9.06% stop rate in 2024. Sanker is a fantastic pass rusher with an almost 50% career pressure rate. This is because he plays with a reckless abandon and plays at 100%.
Where Sanker can get exposed is in his lateral mobility. His hips are a bit stiff and it’s no surprise he skipped the agility drills at the Combine, which helped maintain his high RAS score. When he gets into the slot against twitchy, quick short-area receivers, he can struggle to keep up and prevent separation. But as a box safety who can burst and blow up, Sanker is an excellent option.
Jonas Sanker (Virginia) is one of my favorite box safeties in this class. Good speed + closing burst, almost always wins at the catch point, plays with the mentality of a linebacker.
Leads FBS defensive backs with 173 solo tackles since 2023. pic.twitter.com/lpbMMpjMQD
— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) February 17, 2025
Consider me a Jonas Sanker fan. pic.twitter.com/TFqB0SmQTG
— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) March 7, 2025
I honestly see Sanker in a similar vein as Starks, albeit with slightly less athleticism and instincts. He could be a steal for the Bucs if public consensus is to be believed.
Career Stats – 220 tck, 57 atck, 10.6% MTR, 81 stops, 5 FF, 63.4% catch rate allowed, 0.88 yds/cov rep, 2 INT, 15 PBU, 16 FI
Sanker is considered a late day two/early day three pick.
Jaylen Reed – Penn State
Penn State S Jaylen Reed Photo by: USA Today
Height – 5’11.5
Weight – 211
Arm Length – 30.375
40 – 4.5
Vert – 33.5
Broad – N/A
3-cone – N/A
Short shuttle – N/A
Reed is a physical box safety capable of delivering jarring hits, and his play style shows that is his favorite part of the game. Most of his snaps, about 50%, have come from a deep alignment, with another 25% coming from the slot and in the box each. While most of his experience is as a deep safety, I believe he will be at his best in the NFL as a box safety. In this role, he would be able to play downhill, where he can work in close quarters on a lateral plane with a quick trigger.
His athleticism can be exposed, especially his lateral agility, from time to time, leading to missed tackles because he is efforting from poor angles. Combine this with an, at times, high motor but uncontrolled close and he can miss open field tackles more than one would care for. His tight hips also limit how much he can be used in man coverage, as he can get lost on two-way go’s and whip/return routes as well as corner/post and post/corners.
In coverage, Reed is a bit more solid than great. He’s inconsistent triggering to cut off passing lanes or challenging receivers at the catch point. This is evidenced by only seven forced incompletions in his college career. He struggles to maintain leverage in coverage. This has led to his 72.5% catch rate allowed over his career. In zone coverage, I think he will work best working forward into sky flats and hooks where he isn’t required to make multiple hip-transitions and have to track the ball over his shoulder.
Excited to see Penn State SAF Jaylen Reed against Notre Dame tonight.
Extremely active & alignment versatile defender that arrives with POP. Sure tackler, good instincts… just a flat out good ballplayer that affects the game in multiple ways. pic.twitter.com/RLbuQfisPz
— Ryan Fowler (@_RyanFowler_) January 9, 2025
Reed’s best asset as he enters the NFL is his special teams work. That should make him a sought-after on day three of the draft. The Bucs have recently put a higher priority on special teams, and that could make Reed a higher priority for them.
Career Stats – 143 tck, 34 atck, 14.9% MTR, 53 stops, 2 FF, 72.5% catch rate allowed, 0.59 yds/cov rep, 5 INT, 5 PBU, 7 FI
My current draft board features these safeties in the following tiers:
Tier 2 – Malaki Starks
Tier 3 – Jonas Sanker
Tier 6 – Xavier Watts, Jordan Hancock
