Notre Dame All-American Safety Xavier Watts plans to return in 2024.
South Bend, Indiana — Senior safety Xavier Watts revealed on Saturday evening that he will return to Notre Dame for his fifth season. Watts was outstanding in his fourth season with the Irish, recording seven interceptions and earning the Bronco Nagurski Award as the nation’s best defensive player. Watts’ decision to return is one of several such options for Notre Dame’s formidable defence, preparing the Irish well for 2024.
How surprising is Watts’ return?
Xavier Watts’ return for a fifth year comes as no surprise to those familiar with the safety.
The senior has been upfront about the desire to enhance his game before entering the NFL, whether it’s tackling, leadership, or film study. While that level of self-awareness is unusual for a guy who led the nation in interceptions and earned the Nagurski Award, it has also been a hallmark of Watts’ career at Notre Dame, where he began as wide receiver, went to safety, shifted to linebacker, and then back to safety. Watts has never rushed his personal progress, no matter how difficult the journey.
Watts is a semester away from graduating from Notre Dame with a Masters degree, which provided another motivation to return for the spring semester. He’d also been thinking about what autumn would be like as a non-degree seeking student, allowing Watts to take a light course load and train like a pro while still in college.
Watts may have entered the NFL Draft now and been selected in the later rounds. The wager here is that he can improve his game and become a first-round choice, which comes with a higher amount of guaranteed contract money.
What does this portend for the Notre Dame defence in 2024?
The Irish will be loaded.
Defensive tackles Howard Cross and Rylie Mills, linebacker Jack Kiser and defensive end Jordan Botelho are all returning. Duke defensive end RJ Oben is incoming. Cornerback Benjamin Morrison will be back. While Notre Dame must replace four starters — defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste and linebacker JD Bertrand, cornerback Cam Hart and safety DJ Brown — the Irish are seemingly stocked enough to do it.
Notre Dame could argue it has the nation’s best pair of defensive tackles, top cornerback and top safety returning. And assuming defensive coordinator Al Golden also returned for a third season on Marcus Freeman’s staff — look out for potential exits as an NFL defensive coordinator — Notre Dame will be able to build on this year’s defense that ranked No. 1 in pass efficiency, No. 6 in scoring and No. 5 in yards per play allowed.
If Notre Dame can get its offense to a comparable level under incoming coordinator Mike Denbrock, the Irish will be heavily favored to make next year’s 12-team College Football Playoff and potentially capable of doing damage in it.
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