Marcus Williams is one BAD dude! Best Safety in NFL
I get the rationale behind this thread countering Saint Kamara's outlandish assertion to the contrary, but then I see your post, Alan... Did you not read the following quoted post within the thread? How do you explain that if what you say is true?
I hadn't read the thread that quote was pulled from, only this one (was only the OP at the time I posted).
But yes, 2020 was by far his best campaign in the tackling area, however the cause of my comment is that he already has as many/or more (depending on which source you read) missed tackles through 6 games as he did all of last season. That's appearing to be regression to the mean after a superb season last year if he continues on his current trajectory. These are tidbits pulled from an article about Marcus Williams' career season-by-season...
https://www.si.com/nfl/saints/editorial-opinion/saints-marcus-williams-huge-payday-big-season
2018
Many felt that Williams regressed in his second season with the Saints. He still finished the year in a four-way tie for the team lead with 2 interceptions, but was often out of position on deep plays and missed several tackles.
2019
Finishing second only to Lattimore on the team with 13 passes broken up, Williams took better angles in coverage but still struggled with missed tackles.
2020
Williams had made his tackling an offseason priority, and it showed. He was credited for just three missed tackles on the year and played with much smarter angles in pursuit and in coverage.
And now in 2021 he already has 3 missed tackles in 6 games. It needs to be cleaned up. He keeps trying to force a big play when he doesn't need to by throwing his shoulder when just wrapping up and directing them out of bounds would be just as good.
I left out his rookie season from the article above because we all know he was a stud that year and I refuse to use "the play" as a point in my argument because I don't need to. I've never (and won't ever) pile on Marcus for the play everyone piles on him for because I honestly can't lay blame on him for it. He was a rookie and at the time it was the biggest game of his career. I lay the blame at Dennis Allen's feet because had he called the defense to play the sidelines, it never happens. Instead we get to see it ad nauseum every time we play the Vikings.
So lets say his 2021 season continues on pace and he misses more routine tackles; come contract negotiations, that'll have him with 2 seasons of good tackling (2017 and 2020) and 3 seasons worth of lets call it "sub-par" tackling (2018, 2019, and 2021). It's not helping him if he wants to get paid.
As I said in my initial post, I love Marcus and I definitely would love for him to remain a Saint in 2022 and beyond because finding a coverage safety his caliber is a hell of a lot harder than finding a box safety that won't miss any tackles but can't cover a twin bed with a king size fitted sheet. I'd just like to see his tackling remain consistent. He'll make a few great tackles and then you'll get a few like that Metcalf TD on Monday night, or the one against the Texans Week 1 in 2019 where he whiffed trying to light up Deshaun Watson at the goal-line. For the latter play, he actually had the angle on Watson and then dips his head and Watson runs right by him for the score. Like I said, no need for a big bone jarring hit, just wrap him up and take him out of bounds. Instead he's on a highlight clip whiffing on tackling a QB that he had dead to rights.