FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — From the onset of the pre-draft process this offseason, general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Raheem Morris have stated multiple times that they are looking for impact players. One could argue there has been no safety in college football as impactful as Notre Dame's Xavier Watts.
The Falcons took notice, leveraging their No. 101 pick and a 2026 fifth-round pick to move up to Philadelphia's No. 96 pick to acquire the impactful safety.
Watts stat line alone turned heads. Though just a two-year starter, he racked up 13 interceptions and 31 passes defended. Oh, and he allowed zero touchdown catches as the nearest defender. That interception total, though, led the FBS the last two seasons. That right there was game changing for Notre Dame. Falcons evaluators were more than ready to bring him to Atlanta because of that.
"Xavier is an impact player because he takes the ball away," Falcons area scout Ryan Doyal said in an exclusive interview with AtlantaFalcons.com. "You're going to see a really impressive stat line. When you're in the teens for interceptions in your career and you're a two-year starter? And you're in the teens? You've turned the ball over quite a bit. You want to talk about making an impact? Turnovers make an impact.
"Every team is always looking for turnovers. You look at the statistics, you are winning games based off of these turnovers. So, impactful? Yeah. Absolutely. Every day of the week."
Watt's tape told his story from the jump, according to new Falcons defensive pass game coordinator Mike Rutenberg.
"You see the speed. You see the movement. You see the size. You see all of that and you combine that with his ball production? Plus finding out more about him as a person?" Rutenberg said. "What more do you want?"
In reference to the tape, an intriguing part of Watts' story is how he jumped from position group to position group throughout his years at Notre Dame. He came to the Irish as a receiver. Then, he moved to linebacker. And, well, back to receiver for a time thereafter. It was only right before his senior year that Watts really found a niche as a safety.
Turn on his tape and you see every piece of that journey show up in the way he plays the position. The receiver background shows up in his ball skills. The linebacker reps show up in his tackling instincts.
"And if you're talking about Xavier, you're talking about instincts and you're talking about ball skills," Doyal said. "This kid plays the game with incredible feel."
It's this skillset and instincts that make the Falcons believe Watts can be an impactful player for them, as he was for Notre Dame.
"He's going to do a ton for us, and have a great impact for us, along with the awesome guys that we already have," Rutenberg concluded. "Just getting a guy with the versatility — can play man, can play zone, can blitz, is really good in the run game — on top of the fact, and I am always going to come back to this with Xavier, he's a heart, mind and fist type of guy. It's what we're looking for."
