New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees knows elite safety play when he sees it. He’s squared off against some great ones over the course of his career, including one of, if not the best ever at the position in Ed Reed a few times.

Comparing any safety to an all-time great like Reed would be the ultimate compliment a player in that position can receive. And Brees just did exactly that to his young Saints teammate, Marcus Williams.

“I compare him just as you look at guys in history, you know if you ever played against Ed Reed,” Brees said per Herbie Teope of NFL.com. “You had to do a great job of looking off and try to get him leaning one way, and still you'd throw a ball and be like, ‘How did he get there?' Marcus makes some of those plays, where you're like, ‘How did he get there? Where did he come from?'”

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Being mentioned in the same breath as Ed Reed by Drew Brees is certainly a glowing endorsement for Williams, who doesn’t exactly have the highest approval rating in New Orleans. It was Williams’ costly missed tackle in their playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings which allowed Stefon Diggs to score the game-winning touchdown in the “Minneapolis Miracle.”

That one error overshadowed what was a strong rookie season overall by Williams, who started 15 games and picked off four passes last year. But Brees clearly remembers what Williams is capable of and is confident the young defensive back can still take his game to another level.

The Saints already have a stud corner in reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Marshon Lattimore. So if Williams can get anywhere close to Ed Reed territory as Brees suggests, then the Saints may end up having one of the best secondaries in the game sooner rather than later.