The Saints take Marcus Williams 42nd overall

With the 42nd pick, the New Orleans Saints selected safety Marcus Williams out of Utah.

To the chagrin of their fans, the Saints once again passed on a number of talented defensive ends to select a more minor need. And make no mistake: safety is a need for the Saints. After letting Jairus Byrd go in free agency, the Saints brought former safety Rafael Bush back in a reserve role. But Bush was never set to play big minutes with the team, and his contract reflected that.

Despite bigger needs at DE, the Saints stuck with their big board. They took a player that could emerge as one of the better safeties in the class in Marcus Williams. But they left players like Jordan Willis and Tyus Bowser on the board.

In Williams, the Saints landed a turnover machine.

He’s a deep safety type player with excellent ball skills. He’s essentially a Malik Hooker-lite, a player that the Saints had a shot at in the first round.

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Williams, like Hooker, isn’t quite physical enough to be a thumper in the run game. But he has solid technique and a hard nose. He’ll get the job done. And with Kenny Vacarro and Vonn Bell firmly entrenched as the money-backs on the roster, the Saints will be just fine with Williams playing deep.

And good, because Williams will make his biggest impact deep. He’s got sideline to sideline athleticism and has great recognition of play development. He may not start right away, but between Bell and Vacarro he’s slated to become a fixture on this defense.

After landing Marshon Lattimore with the 11th pick, the Saints solidified their only remaining hole in the secondary. They now have Delvin Breaux and Lattimore as the starting CBs, a strong cast of CBs competing for the slot position, and Vacarro, Bell and Williams playing deep. That’s one of the best secondaries in the league. And it’ll mean a huge difference for this defense.

The only question is, as you all know, the Saints need at pass rush.

But it’s important to remember that the Saints player ALL of 2016 with Paul Kruger as their starting DE. They now have Alex Okafor and may potentially have Hau’oli Kikaha. And they have two third-round picks to further address the position, or possibly to trade back into the 2nd round.

This was a BPA pick. That’s how the Saints have operated for years. And they still filled a need, with a centerfielder that can patrol the backend of the secondary. They needed it after letting Byrd go.