Safety Marcus Williams Fits Perfectly Into Ravens Defensive Scheme

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Marcus Williams should fill a big hole for the Ravens' secondary.

Baltimore has been looking for a ball-hawking free safety that can play center field since Ed Reed departed.

The analysts at Pro Football Focus contend that Williams should make an immediate impact for the Ravens.

"The Ravens have been a high safety team for quite a while under former defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale. Cover 1 and Cover 3 represented 61% of their defensive calls over the past three seasons," PFF's Seth Galina wrote. "On 50% of their calls they showed a one-high safety look pre-snap and then played a one-high safety defense post-snap. This is who they’ve been for so long, and that fit would have been perfect for Marcus Williams. Where it gets interesting is with new defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald in the fold.

"MacDonald just spent the 2021 season as the Michigan Wolverines‘ defensive coordinator, but before that he had been with the Ravens since 2014. He did not bring that blitzing one-high defense to Ann Arbor, instead showing a lot more two-high safety looks pre-snap and much more zone coverage overall. MacDonald showed and played single high only 27% of the time in 2021, and his 30% blitz rate is a far cry from the Ravens' 50% mark in 2019 and 2020 combined."

Baltimore inked Williams to a five-year, $70 million deal earlier this month.

Last year for the New Orleans 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.

"This definitely suits Williams. Even though he played in the deep middle often, the New Orleans Saints would rotate him back from more disguised pre-snap alignments," Galina wrote. "He also performed very well in half-field or quarters roles, earning the fourth-highest grade over the past three seasons there.

"He’s never been the player who is going to rotate down into the box to play man or an intermediate zone, but he can be everything else."