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As he addressed New Orleans media for the first time by phone, the words seemed to get tangled in Marcus Williams' mouth.
"I can't even explain it right now," he said. "It's really amazing. I'm excited to get out there and start this new journey of my life. I can't even talk, I'm so excited."
The New Orleans Saints selected the 6-foot-1, 202-pound safety with the No. 42 overall pick of the NFL draft on Friday evening, sending another Utah football defensive back to the league.
Williams comes to the NFL after three years in the Utes secondary — becoming a force in his final two seasons.
During his sophomore and junior years, Williams accumulated 10 interceptions and 130 tackles, a feared ballhawk but also a sure tackler who made two all-Pac-12 teams. Pro Football Focus rated him as the top run-tackling safety in the country for the 2016 season, despite missing two games with injury.
"I feel like I'm able to take away the ball," Williams said. "I'm able to get sideline-to-sideline. I'm that guy that wants to take the ball away, regardless of where I'm at."
After declaring for the draft in January, Williams went on to be one of the most explosive safeties at the combine two months later, recording among the top marks in vertical jump and broad jump.
Williams will be counted upon to help a Saints secondary that ranked last in passing yards allowed last year (273.8 ypg). He met with Saints coaches before the draft and said he had a feeling it was where he'd end up.
"I had a good vibe," he said. "You never know what's going to happen in the draft. Everybody is always switching up. I'm just excited they continued to stick with me and invited me to be a part of this organization."
Williams became Utah's second pick of this year's draft behind offensive tackle Garett Bolles, who went to the Denver Broncos with the 20th pick of the first round Thursday. Williams is the 13th Ute to be selected in the second round, and the third in the last three drafts. He's the fourth Ute to be drafted by the Saints, the first since 1996.
A native Californian, Williams said he has never been to New Orleans. When asked if there was anything about his new home he was looking forward to experiencing, he said meeting his new coaching staff.
Apparently for Williams, it's all business.
"I have a lot of confidence," he said. "That's the type of person you're going to be getting with me."
Twitter: @kylegoon