Xavier Watts

Notre Dame defensive back Xavier Watts led the country with seven interceptions during the 2023 season, but he's not satisfied and has big dreams for the future. "I am not coming into the 2024 season being like, ‘Oh, I need to get seven interceptions again,’" said Watts, who won the Bronko Nagurski Award and earned unanimous All-America honors in 2023. “I still think I’m a little raw at safety. I mean, I had a really good season last year, but I feel like I can have an even better season, even if it’s not with all of those statistics. I just think it comes down to being comfortable. Just having that mindset of like, ‘I’m a veteran now.’ I have to know exactly what I’m doing. I need to know exactly what everyone else is doing and be able to command the defense. Just taking that progression to right now from last year and having a totally different mindset.”