| Notre Dame Fighting Irish–No. 0 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Safety |
| Class |  |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | November 22, 2001 Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 203 lb (92 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| Bowl games | |
| High school | Harry A. Burke (Omaha) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Xavier Watts (born November 22, 2001) is an American college football safety for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy in 2023 after leading the FBS with seven interceptions.
Watts was born in Omaha, Nebraska and attended high school at Harry A. Burke. In high school, 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. [1] Watts was ranked as the number two prospect in the state of Nebraska in the 2019 class. [2] Watts committed to play college football at the University of Notre Dame as a wide receiver. [3] [4]
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xavier Watts WR | Omaha, Nebraska | Harry A. Burke | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jul 5, 2019 | |
Star ratings: Rivals:  247Sports:  ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 | ||||||
In the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, Watts would be given a redshirt after appearing in two games and recording no statistics. [5]
During the start of the 2021 season, injuries to the linebacker position made it possible for Watts to switch from receiver to defense. Watts saw snaps at the "rover" position, a mix between safety and linebacker. [6] Watts made his first defensive contribution against Virginia Tech, making three total tackles (one solo), in route to a 32–29 win. Watts 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). [7]
Watts entered the 2022 season as the backup safety to Brandon Joseph. In the Irish's game against Stanford, Watts had a career-high seven total tackles. In Week 11, Watts got his first career start against Navy where he recorded a career-high eight tackles. Two weeks later, he would set a new career-high in tackles making nine against USC. [8] Watts played in 13 games with four starts in 2022 finishing the season with 39 total tackles (24 solo) and four pass deflections.
In Week 2 of the 2023 season, Watts recorded his first career interception in a win over NC State, 45–24. [9] In Week 5, Watts would record another big interception that helped Notre Dame beat Duke, 21–14. [10] In Week 7, Watts intercepted Caleb Williams on the first series of the game to help set up Notre Dame. [11] Watts would finish 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 USC, 48–20. [12] 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 Bronko Nagurski Trophy. [13] Following the season, College Football Network named Watts to the All-Independent first team and Independent Safety of the Year. [14] He was also selected as a Unanimous All-American along with his teammate, Joe Alt. [15]
Before the start of the 2024 season, Watts was named preseason All-American by the Associated Press, ESPN, The Sporting News , and USA Today . He was also named as 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 Texas A&M. Against No. 15 Louisville, Watts 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. On the final game of the season, Christian Gray intercepted one of USC 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 Northern Illinois on September 7, Notre Dame won 10 straight games to make the College Football Playoff as the No. 7 seed, hosting No. 10 Indiana in the first round.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bronko Nagurski Trophy | |
| Led the NCAA | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||
| GP | GS | Solo | Ast | Cmb | TfL | Sck | Int | Yds | Avg | TD | PD | FR | FF | TD | |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 |  Redshirt | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 13 | 4 | 24 | 15 | 39 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 13 | 13 | 30 | 22 | 52 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 7 | 137 | 19.6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2024 | 12 | 12 | 30 | 19 | 49 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 5 | 136 | 27.2 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | 51 | 29 | 95 | 60 | 155 | 6.0 | 1.5 | 12 | 273 | 22.8 | 1 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
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