Xavier Watts (born November 22, 2001) is an American professional

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for the

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of the

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(NFL). He played

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for the

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, winning the

Bronko Nagurski Trophy The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football defensive player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to be the best in the National Collegiate Athle ...

in 2023. Watts was selected by the Falcons in the third round of the 2025 NFL draft.

Early life

Watts was born on November 22, 2001, in

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. He attended Omaha Burke High School in

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. In his career, he hauled in 163 receptions for 2,978 yards and 36 touchdowns, while also rushing for 88 yards and a touchdown. On defense Watts notched 136 tackles with 7.5 being for a loss, 13 pass deflections, nine interceptions, and one touchdown. He was ranked as the number two recruit in the state of Nebraska in the 2019 class. Watts committed to play

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

College career

2020 season

In the

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shortened 2020 season, Watts was given a

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after appearing in two games and recording no statistics.

2021 season

During the start of the 2021 season, injuries to the

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

position made it possible for Watts to switch from receiver to defense. He saw snaps at the "rover" position, a mix between

and linebacker. Watts made his first defensive contribution against

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, making three total tackles (one solo), in route to a 32–29 win. He also saw time at strong safety when Kyle Hamilton went down with a knee injury. Over 11 games, Watts had 15 total tackles (11 solo).

2022 season

Watts entered the 2022 season as the backup safety to Brandon Joseph. In the Irish's game against

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, he had a career-high seven total tackles. In Week 11, Watts got his first career start against

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where he recorded a career-high eight tackles. Two weeks later, he set a new career-high in tackles making nine against

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. Watts played in 13 games with four starts in 2022 finishing the season with 39 total tackles (24 solo) and four pass deflections.

2023 season

In Week 2 of the 2023 season, Watts recorded his first career interception in a win over NC State, 45–24. In Week 5, he recorded another big interception that helped Notre Dame beat

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, 21–14. In Week 7, Watts intercepted Caleb Williams on the first series of the game to help set up Notre Dame. Watts finished his career performance with seven tackles, two interceptions, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a touchdown, as he helped the Fighting Irish upset No. 10

, 48–20. Watts finished the regular season with 47 total tackles (28 solo), four pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a defensive touchdown. He also had an NCAA-leading seven interceptions, which helped him win the 2023

. Following the season, Watts was selected as a Unanimous All-American along with teammate Joe Alt.

2024 season

Ahead of the 2024 season, Watts was named preseason

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by the

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, ''

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'', and ''

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''. He was also named one of the five Fighting Irish team captains. During the season opener, Watts collected his first interception of the season to help Notre Dame beat No. 20

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. Against No. 15

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, he returned an interception 34 yards and forced a quarterback hurry that made the Cardinals turn the ball over on downs in the fourth quarter, sealing the 31–24 victory. During the final game of the season, Christian Gray intercepted one of

quarterback Jayden Maiava's passes and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown, breaking Notre Dame's record for longest interception return. On the next drive, Watts picked off Maiava at the goal line, returning it for 100 yards and breaking Gray's record to help Notre Dame win 49–35. After losing to

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on September 7, Notre Dame won 10 straight games to make the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual single-elimination tournament, knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, D ...

as the No. 7 seed, hosting No. 10

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in the first round. After defeating Indiana, Notre Dame faced No. 2

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in the

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, where Watts would be named Defensive MVP in the 23–10 win. Notre Dame would then defeat No. 6

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in the

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before losing to No. 8

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in the CFP National Championship. Watts gained Consensus All-American status after being selected to the first team by four of the five selectors. On January 24, 2025, Watts declared for the 2025 NFL draft.

College statistics

Professional career

Watts was selected by the

with the 96th pick in the third round of the 2025 NFL draft. On May 9, 2025, Watts signed a four-year, $6.19 million contract with the Falcons.

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bioNotre Dame Fighting Irish profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Xavier 2001 births Living people Players of American football from Omaha, Nebraska American football safeties Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players All-American college football players Atlanta Falcons players