Marshon Demond Lattimore (born May 20, 1996) is an American football cornerback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, and was drafted by the Saints 11th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Early years
Lattimore attended Glenville High School in Cleveland, Ohio. He played cornerback and wide receiver for the football team. As a senior, he was one of six finalists for the U.S. Army Player of the Year Award. Lattimore was rated as a four-star recruit and committed to Ohio State University to play college football.
College career
Lattimore redshirted his first year at Ohio State in 2014 and played in only seven games his redshirt freshman year in 2015, due to hamstring injuries. He fully recovered from the injuries to become a starter in 2016. On November 29, 2016, Lattimore was named First-team All-Big Ten by the coaches.
Professional career
Coming out of Ohio State, Lattimore was projected to be a first round pick by the majority of NFL experts and analysts. He was invited to the NFL Combine, but chose not to perform the bench press, shuttle, and three-cone drill. He attended Ohio State's Pro Day and decided to only run positional drills for scouts and representatives. Although he had a history of hamstring injuries and was limited to a single year of starting experience in college, he was ranked the top cornerback prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, NFL analyst Bucky Brooks, and NFL analyst Mike Mayock. Lattimore was also ranked as the best cornerback by Pro Football Focus.
The New Orleans Saints selected Lattimore in the first round (11th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft. He was the first of five cornerbacks selected in the first round of the draft.
2017 season
On June 3, 2017, the Saints signed Lattimore to a fully guaranteed four-year, $15.35 million contract with a signing bonus of $9.31 million.
The Saints were expected to bring Lattimore along slowly and allow him to sit behind starters Delvin Breaux and P. J. Williams and compete for the role as the third cornerback on the depth chart against Ken Crawley and De'Vante Harris. Head coach Sean Payton named him the third cornerback behind P. J. Williams and Ken Crawley after Breaux suffered a fractured fibula on August 16. He started the first two regular-season games after Crawley was listed as inactive for both.
Lattimore made his NFL debut on Monday Night Football in the season-opener against the Minnesota Vikings and recorded four solo tackles in the 29–19 loss. The following week, he had a season-high seven combined tackles, two pass deflections, and a forced fumble during a 36–20 loss against the New England Patriots. Lattimore left the game in the fourth quarter and was placed in concussion protocol after colliding with teammate Vonn Bell as they both tackled wide receiver Brandin Cooks. Lattimore became the starting cornerback prior to Week 4 after Williams was demoted in relation with a disciplinary issue. Two weeks later against the Detroit Lions, Lattimore recorded five combined tackles, deflected two passes, intercepted a pass attempt from quarterback Matthew Stafford, and returned it for a 27-yard touchdown during a 52–38 victory. The interception and touchdown were the first of his career. On November 2, 2017, he was named the NFC Defensive Rookie of the Month for the month of October. Lattimore missed Weeks 12–13 due to an ankle sprain during a Week 11 victory over the Washington Redskins.
On December 21, it was announced that Lattimore was selected to play in the 2018 Pro Bowl. During Week 16, he made five combined tackles, four pass deflections, and intercepted his fifth pass of the year off of Matt Ryan in a 23–13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Lattimore finished his rookie year with 52 combined tackles (43 solo), 18 pass deflections, five interceptions, and a touchdown in 13 games and starts. His five interceptions were the fifth most of all players in 2017. Lattimore was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and received an overall grade of 90.5 from Pro Football Focus and had the fourth highest grade among all cornerbacks in 2017. He was ranked 82nd by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018, one of three rookies to make the list.