Atlanta Falcons select Xavier Watts in third round of 2025 NFL Draft

The Atlanta Falcons have selected Xavier Watts with the No. 96 overall pick in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Watts spent five seasons at Notre Dame.

In the 2024 campaign, Watts started in all 16 of the Fighting Irish’s games. He finished the season with a career-high 82 tackles, nine passes defended, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and six interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown.

Watts’ six interceptions last season were the second-most in the country. For his efforts, Watts was named a 2024 consensus All-American and finalist for numerous other honors, including the Chuck Bednarik Award and Lott IMPACT Trophy.

In his five seasons at Notre Dame, Watts amassed 55 appearances and 33 starts. He compiled 188 tackles and 13 interceptions through his collegiate career. He was the No. 3 safety in ESPN analyst Mel Kiper’s NFL draft Big Board.

While Watts is thankful for outside praise, he doesn’t need it to believe in his own abilities. At the NFL Scouting Combine, Watts discussed his self-confidence.

“I don’t really care too much about what people have to say about me,” Watts said. “At the end of the day, everybody is going to have what they’ve chosen to talk about or what my strengths and weaknesses are. I do feel like I can make an impact at any given time on the field. Deep end of the field, in the box, blitzing.”

Xavier Watts played high school football at Burke (NE), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 341 overall player and No. 2 player from Nebraska in the 2020 recruiting cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Xavier Watts

Evidently, NFL scouts don’t expect Watts’ success to stop at the next level. Ahead of the draft, NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein weighed in on Watts’ NFL potential.

“Safety with the versatility and ball skills to make plays from a variety of alignments. Watts plays with rare feel and instincts on the back-end, allowing him to range over the top in single-high or read and drive on throws as a split safety,” Zierlein wrote. “Watts lined up over the slot at times in college, but he might not have the man-cover talent to do that as a pro.

“His ball skills and production are intoxicating, but his run support and tackling are quite sobering. Watts lacks pursuit discipline and fails to break down in space, leading to open-field misses and back-breaking mistakes. The tackling lowers his floor some, but I expect him to drift toward his ceiling because he’s so good on the back-end.”