 Williams with theNew Orleans Saints in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Safety | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1996-09-08)September 8, 1996 (age 29) Corona, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 204 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school | Eleanor Roosevelt (Eastvale, California) | ||||||||||||||||
| College | Utah (2014–2016) | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2017: 2nd round, 42nd overall pick | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of 2025 | |||||||||||||||||
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Marcus Alan Williams (born September 8, 1996) is an American professionalfootballsafety. He playedcollege football for theUtah Utes.
Williams attendedEleanor Roosevelt High School inEastvale, California. He playedwide receiver anddefensive back for the Mustangsfootball team.[1] He also playedbasketball and rantrack. He committed to playcollege football at theUniversity of Utah over competing scholarship offers fromWashington andCalifornia.[2]
As atrue freshman at Utah in 2014, Williams played in all 13 games and made six starts. He finished the 2014 season with 59 tackles and aninterception. As a sophomore in 2015, he was named first-teamAll-Pac-12 after he recorded 65 tackles and five interceptions in 13 starts.[3][4] He intercepted a pass fromCalifornia'sJared Goff in the Utes' 30–24 win on October 10.[5][6] As a junior in 2016, after missing some games due to injury, he returned on November 10 againstArizona State and recorded nine tackles and had an interception in the end zone.[7] He played in 11 games, recording 64 tackles and five interceptions.[8] He recorded four interceptions during the regular season[9] and was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection. After the season, Williams entered the2017 NFL draft.[10][11] He finished his college career with 11 interceptions and 188 total tackles.[12] He was predicted to be a first-round or second-round selection by several sportswriters andmock drafts.[13][14][15]
Williams received an invitation to theNFL Combine and completed all of the combine drills. He also attended Utah'sPro Day and opted to only run positional drills for team scouts and representatives. NFL draft experts and analysts projected him to be selected in the second or third round. He was ranked the fifth best safety in the draft by NFL analystBucky Brooks,Mike Mayock, andSports Illustrated, ranked the third best free safety by NFLDraftScout.com, and was ranked the eighth best safety byESPN.[16][17][18][19]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Williams' NFL Combine workout |
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | Wonderlic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft0+5⁄8 in (1.84 m) | 202 lb (92 kg) | 32+1⁄2 in (0.83 m) | 9+1⁄2 in (0.24 m) | 4.56 s | 1.59 s | 2.68 s | 4.20 s | 6.85 s | 43.5 in (1.10 m) | 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m) | 14 reps | 34 |
| All values fromNFL Combine[20][21][22] | ||||||||||||
TheNew Orleans Saints selected Williams in the second round (42nd overall) of the 2017 NFL draft.[23] He was the sixth safety selected in 2017.[24]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
| Saints select Williams 42nd overall |
On June 3, 2017, the New Orleans Saints signed Williams to a four–year,$6.24 million contract that includes $3.42 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $2.67 million.[25]
During training camp, Williams competed for the role as a starting free safety againstVonn Bell. Head coach Sean Payton named him a backup safety to begin the season, behind starting safeties Vonn Bell andKenny Vaccaro.[26]
On September 11, 2017, Williams made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the New Orleans Saints' season-opener at theMinnesota Vikings and recorded five combined tackles (three solo) during their 29–19 loss.[27] He was credited with his first career tackle on wide receiver Stefon Diggs after pushing him out of bounds on the Vikings' first drive, but drew an unnecessary roughness penalty after hitting Diggs while he was out of bounds.[28] On September 24, 2017, Williams made two tackles, a pass deflection, and had his first career interception off a pass byCam Newton to running backChristian McCaffrey during a 34–13 win at theCarolina Panthers.[29] He was inactive for the Saints' Week 13 victory against the Carolina Panthers, due to agroin injury he sustained the previous week.[30] On December 31, 2017, Williams collected a season-high eight combined tackles (seven solo), two pass deflections, and made a season-high two interceptions off pass attempts byJameis Winston during a 31–24 loss at theTampa Bay Buccaneers. He finished his rookie season with 73 combined tackles (59 solo), seven pass deflections, and four interceptions in 15 games and 15 starts.[31] During the season, Williams was used as a third safety inDennis Allen's three-safety technique and as an extra defensive back in nickel and dime packages.Pro Football Focus gave Williams an overall grade of 86.8, ranking him 11th among all qualified safeties in 2017.[32] He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.[33]
The New Orleans Saints finished the2017 NFL season first in theNFC South with an 11–5 record. On January 7, 2018, Williams started his first career playoff game and recorded eight combined tackles (six solo) and a pass deflection during a 31–26 victory against the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Wildcard Game.[29]
| External videos | |
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| Sound FX: Stefon Diggs' Walkoff TD | |
| Williams "I just gotta make the tackle." |
On January 14, 2018, Williams made five combined tackles (three solo), two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass fromCase Keenum, leading to a Saints' touchdown, bringing them within three points of the Vikings.[34] As the Saints were up by one point with only a few seconds remaining, Williams attempted a tackle onStefon Diggs , diving low with his head down, but missed the tackle and knocked over teammateKen Crawley instead. With no other defenders left between Diggs and the end zone, he caught a pass and ran untouched into the end zone to score a 61–yard touchdown as time expired, giving Minnesota a 29–24 victory in the Divisional Round.[29][35] The play became known as theMinneapolis Miracle.
Following the departure of Kenny Vaccaro, Williams was slated to takeover as a starting safety. Defensive coordinatorDennis Allen had a revamped secondary that includedEli Apple,Patrick Robinson, andKurt Coleman. Head coach Sean Payton named Williams the starting free safety to begin the season and paired him with Vonn Bell.[36]
On September 9, 2018, Williams started in the Saints' home-opener against theTampa Bay Buccaneers and racked up a season-high six combined tackles (five solo) during a 40–48 loss. The following week, he recorded four solo tackles, deflected a pass, and intercepted a pass thrown byTyrod Taylor to tight endDavid Njoku during a 21–18 victory against theCleveland Browns in Week 2.[37] On November 22, 2018, Williams produced five solo tackles and forced a fumble while making the first sack of his career onMatt Ryan for a six–yard loss and was also able to recover the fumble as the Saints defeated theAtlanta Falcons 17–31.[38] He started all 16 games in 2018 and recorded a total of 59 combined tackles (49 solo), three pass deflections, two interceptions, one sack, a forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.[39]
He returned as the Saints' starting free safety, alongside Vonn Bell, to begin the regular season.[40] In Week 4, Williams had two solo tackles, a pass deflection, and intercepted a Hail Mary pass thrown byDak Prescott to seal a 12–10 win against theDallas Cowboys.[41] On November 10, 2019, Williams made seven combined tackles (five solo), a season-high four pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by Matt Ryan to wide receiverCalvin Ridley as the Saints were routed 26–9 by theAtlanta Falcons. On November 17, 2019, he made four solo tackles, two pass deflections, and returned an interception thrown byJameis Winston toMike Evans 55–yards for a touchdown during a 34–17 win at theTampa Bay Buccaneers.[42] In Week 13, he racked up a season-high seven combined tackles (six solo) in the Saints' 26–18 win at the Atlanta Falcons.[43] He finished with a total of 55 combined tackles (40 solo), 13 pass deflections, and four interceptions in 15 games and 15 starts.
Head coachSean Payton named Williams the starting strong safety to start the season and paired him withMalcolm Jenkins following the departure of Vonn Bell.[44]
In Week 1 against the Buccaneers, Williams recorded his first interception off a pass thrown byTom Brady during the 34–23 win.[45]
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On March 9, 2021, the New Orleans Saints placed the franchise tag on Williams.[46] On March 30, 2021, the Saints signed Williams to a fully-guaranteed one–year, $10.61 million contract.[47]
On March 16, 2022, theBaltimore Ravens signed Williams to a five–year, $70 million contract that includes $37 million guaranteed, $32 million guaranteed upon signing, and an initialsigning bonus of $14.96 million.[48]
In Week 1 against theNew York Jets, he was the team's leading tackler with 12 combined tackles as well as a 33-yard interception return and a forced fumble. The Ravens would win 24–9.[49] He suffered a dislocated wrist in Week 5 and was placed oninjured reserve on October 11, 2022.[50] He was activated on December 10.
In 2023, Williams suffered a torn pectoral in his left shoulder in the Ravens' season opening win over the Texans.[51][52] He decided to forego surgery in order to return for the season.[53] Despite missing six games overall, Williams still had a solid regular season, finishing with 55 combined tackles, eight pass breakups and an interception.[54]
Williams would reprise his role at starting safety in 2024, but his play regressed significantly, causing the Ravens to have one of the worst passing defenses in the NFL at the beginning of the season. He was benched for Week 8's game against theCleveland Browns, but was put back in the starting role the next week after his replacementEddie Jackson performed so poorly that he was benched.[55][56] Williams play did not improve over the next two weeks and he was subsequently benched again withAr'Darius Washington replacing him.[57] Williams was inactive as a healthy scratch for the final five games of the season.[58]
On March 12, 2025, Williams was released by the Ravens.[59]
On October 28, 2025, Williams signed with theLos Angeles Chargers' practice squad.[60]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2025) |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2017 | NO | 15 | 15 | 73 | 59 | 14 | 0.0 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | NO | 16 | 16 | 59 | 49 | 10 | 1.0 | 3 | 2 | 100 | 50.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | NO | 15 | 15 | 55 | 40 | 15 | 0.0 | 13 | 4 | 56 | 14.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | NO | 14 | 14 | 59 | 39 | 20 | 0.0 | 7 | 3 | 37 | 12.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | NO | 16 | 16 | 74 | 52 | 22 | 0.0 | 8 | 2 | 56 | 28.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | BAL | 10 | 10 | 61 | 44 | 17 | 0.0 | 8 | 4 | 33 | 8.3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | BAL | 11 | 11 | 55 | 35 | 20 | 0.0 | 8 | 1 | 22 | 22.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | BAL | 5 | 5 | 20 | 15 | 5 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 102 | 102 | 456 | 333 | 123 | 1.0 | 56 | 20 | 316 | 15.8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
