Right Place, Right Time: Notre Dame S Watts Leads Nation in Interceptions

Safety Xavier Watts leads the nation in interceptions in his first full year as a starter. 

Through nine games, he’s picked off six passes, which is more than just dumb luck. It’s as if he knows where the ball is going before it's thrown.

“He's now in the right position and able to capitalize on those opportunities that come his way through film study,” coach Marcus Freeman said, “through preparation or through just making a play. Sometimes you just make a play, but you gotta be in the right position to do that.”

Watts is playing so well that he earned the Bronco Nagurski National Player of the Week honors twice for his performances against USC and Pitt. 

Most notably, he hauled in four interceptions over this two-game span, but he’s equally as proud of the other stats he recorded. That includes 10 tackles, a pass deflection, a forced fumble, a tackle for loss and a recovered fumble for a touchdown.

“Interceptions are momentum-changing plays,” Watts said. “Obviously, it flips the field, but I feel like coming down, getting a tackle for loss or making a big hit or stripping something, that brings a lot more juice to the defense. 

“It brings a lot more energy, and it just kind of motivates other people that they can come down and make big hits as well or strip the ball or go for the ball, too.”

He’s also climbing up the Notre Dame record books. Defensive back Mike Townsend set the program’s single-season record with 10 interceptions in 1972.

No Fighting Irish player has picked off eight or more passes in a season this Millenium with Shane Walton (2002), Harrison Smith (2010) and Manti Te'o (2012) each snagging seven interceptions.

Current sophomore cornerback Ben Morrison picked off six passes last fall. At that time, Watts was also adjusting to life as a full-time safety. 

The former three-star prospect committed to the Irish to play wide receiver. He moved to safety as a sophomore. Unfortunately, the move wasn’t permanent as the Irish coaching staff switched him back to wideout at the start of the 2022 season due to a plethora of injuries at the position. 

By midseason, he proved too valuable as a safety to moonlight anywhere else, and his production at the backend of Notre Dame’s defense has skyrocketed ever since. He registered 21 tackles, a sack and a pass deflection in four November games last year. 

Now a full-time starter, his game has ascended with his breakout senior season.

“He's continuing to improve at the fundamentals of the position,” coach Marcus Freeman said. “He’s always had ability and talent, but there's another aspect of actually being really effective at the position that he's continuing to grow at and play at an extremely high level right now.”

Watts is first on the team with 10 passes defended (interceptions + pass breakups), fourth on the team with 39 tackles and second among defensive backs with 2.5 TFLs.

With so much production, he’s well on his way to an All-American deep safety.

“I’m an aggressive type of player,” Watts said. “I think I have good instincts, so I just kind of when I know the quarterback’s going to launch it, he’s going to pick a side, I’m going to take off and just go for it. In the Pitt game, I just knew he dropped back, he tried to look me off, but I wasn’t going for it.”

The only downside for Notre Dame is impressive plays like the one above appear to be getting on the radar of NFL teams. ESPN analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. recently ranked Watts as the No. 7 overall safety ahead of the 2024. 

That doesn’t necessarily mean Watts is a shoo-in to enter the draft. He’s still relatively new to a position that professional scouts and general managers don’t highly value. LSU’s Jay Ward was the seventh safety taken in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings, which occurred at the backend of the fourth round. 

Either way, Watts should continue making game-changing plays for the rest of the season as long as he stays healthy, sticks to the game plan and doesn’t force anything. 

“He's making his plays, and he's not chasing plays,” defensive coordinator Al Golden said. “He's in the right spot.”