New Ravens safety Marcus Williams has been on the wrong end of some big plays.
Perhaps the most glaring blunder came in his rookie year for the New Orleans against the Minnesota Vikings.
Williams missed the tackle on the New Orleans' 35-yard line that allowed Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs to run for a 61-yard, game-winning touchdown in Minnesota's 29-24 victory in the divisional round of the 2018 playoffs.
Williams said he learned from that mistake and now he is a better player.
“Even being a rookie, I don’t think that I was bad at all. I mean, I may have one play that set it all off and people know me for, but that’s just adversity," Williams said. "Everybody hits adversity, and for me, just being able to face that, look it in the eye and keep going, I feel like it just shows who I am. I’m never the type to back down, I’m not going to quit, and I’m going to just keep going. You can get knocked down, but if you don’t get back up, that’s on you. Life is full of choices, and my choice was to get back up, stand tall and continue to be who I am, and I’m that type of person. I’m never going to let anybody tell me I can’t do something, and that’s what I preach to the kids that I speak to.
"Just like when I was in college, I said I’m going to get a degree; I went to the league, and I went back and got my degree. So, that’s just the type of person who I am, and nobody can ever tell me that … They can never say that you quit because you may have missed a play. That’s life, that’s football – something’s always going to happen – and for me, I’m going to get back up, and I’m going to keep striving for success.”
Baltimore inked Williams to a five-year, $70 million deal at the start of free agency.
Last year for the Saints, Williams had a career-high 74 tackles with two interceptions and eight passes defensed. He was also solid in coverage and is an effective hitter.
Williams is only 25 years old and he should be able to help create turnovers, which is an area of focus for the Ravens.
Williams will be paired with strong safety Chuck Clark, who is one of the team's top playmakers.
Baltimore has a pair of former All-Pro cornerbacks in Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters. Both of those players suffered season-ending injuries last year, but they are expected to return healthy.
"They’re all talented players, and they all go get the ball," Williams said. "They’re all high-caliber guys, and I feel like I fit right in with that, and I feel like I can just help us elevate to another level, as well.”
Since entering the NFL in 2017, Williams ranks seventh among all safeties (and 12th overall in the NFL) with 15 total interceptions. Over the past five seasons, his 15 thefts led all Saints defenders and rank second (Tre’Davious White – 16) among all players from the 2017 NFL Draft class.
Williams produced at least 50 tackles and multiple interceptions in each of his first five NFL seasons (2017-21), joining Tyrann Mathieu, Jordan Poyer and Justin Simmons for the league’s longest active such streak.
Williams earned PFWA All-Rookie team honors in 2017 after posting 71 tackles (56 solo), seven passes defensed, and four interceptions. Among rookie defensive backs that season, he tied for third in tackles (71), while tying for second in interceptions (four).
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