6 days ago
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It won't come as a surprise to many Notre Dame fans that former Fighting Irish superstar and safety Xavier Watts is off to a spectacular start in the National Football League. Watts just wrapped up his first regular season as a professional and it was one to remember. Unfortunately, the Falcons finished 3rd in the NFC South so we won't get to see what Watts will do in the post season, but his performance in the regular season confirmed what a lot of us Notre Dame fans already knew; Watts is one heck of a football player.
The Omaha, Nebraska native was overlooked his entire football career. He was recruited as a wide receiver but made the switch over to the defensive side of the ball early on in his collegiate career in South Bend. It wasn't until 2023 where Watts truly burst onto the national scene. He finished the season with 52 total tackles, four passes defended and seven interceptions. That performance awarded him the Bronko Nagurski Award at the end of the season given to the nation's best defender. Watts was also named a Unanimous All-American in 2023.
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In 2024, he followed up that performance with an 83 tackle, nine passes defended, six interception season and played an integral role on Notre Dame's stellar playoff run. The Nebraska native finished the year as a Consensus All-American and carried a lot of hype into the NFL Draft. But once again, the 6-0, 203-pound safety was overlooked.
Watts is a prime example as to why you don't only look at measurables and 40-yard dash times. He measured in at 6-0, 204-pounds and ran a 4.56 40-yard dash at his Pro Day in South Bend. If I were to tell you that a Unanimous and Consensus All-American who racked up 13 interceptions in two seasons and played in the National Championship in his final year of collegiate football went in the third round, you'd say I was crazy. Unfortunately, that's where Watts ended up going as the 96th overall pick at the end of the 3rd round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Looking back, I'm sure the 31 other teams that passed on him in the first three rounds regret their decision. Watts was in the starting lineup by week one of the NFL season when the Falcons took on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home. He started all 17 games playing 1,093 snaps during his rookie season. Watts racked up 96 total tackles, five interceptions and 11 passes defended in his first season in the NFL. His five interceptions on the season ties him for 2nd place in the National Football League amongst some of the top defensive backs in the sport.
Watts finished the 2025 regular season as the 26th highest graded strong safety in the NFL according to PFF and had the 17th highest coverage grade in the NFL amongst strong safeties. His 67 solo tackles also ranked him 19th amongst strong safeties in 2025 as well. Watts' impact was felt for multiple seasons in South Bend and has now carried that impact down to Atlanta where he starts for the Falcons. He's still extremely young and has his best football in front of him. I'm just happy we got to see him in the blue and gold making plays every Saturday.
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