Despite a spectacular Notre Dame football career, safety Xavier Watts somehow fell out of the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. While he was selected on the second day, it still seemed like everyone but the Atlanta Falcons missed out on one of the best young defenders to hit the league in quite a while.
After earning the starting job towards the end of fall camp, Watts demonstrated just how good he is in his regular-season debut. To the eye test, Watts was flying all over the field. And his stats showed that the Falcons' rookie was one of the best players on the field, even if the team lost to the Tennessee Titans in their season opener.
Xavier Watts shows his Notre Dame football success has carried over to the Atlanta Falcons
The former Notre Dame football star finished the game tied for the team lead with 6 tackles and 2 passes defended. According to PFF, he had the third-best grade of any Atlanta defender at 72.8, and in addition to his tackles and passes defended, he allowed just 2 catches in 4 targets.
Watts also nearly intercepted two different passes, and of those 6 stops, he made some tough solo tackles. All of this comes after the ex-Notre Dame star had an excellent fall camp that obviously had coaches taking notice.
In the last few years, the Irish have sent a ton of talented defensive backs to the NFL, including Watts' teammates Benjamin Morrison and Cam Hart.
There's also arguably the best safety in the NFL in former Notre Dame football star Kyle Hamilton. Xavier Watts would very much like to challenge that title before things are said and done.