Notre Dame Safety Xavier Watts Earns Walter Camp All-American Honors

Notre Dame star safety Xavier Watts earned first-team All-American honors from Walter Camp

Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts continues earning postseason recognition, with the senior standout earning first-team All-America honors from Walter Camp.

Earlier in the week Watts won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which goes annually to the nation's top defensive player. This is his fourth first-team All-American honor, with Watts also earning a spot on the first team from CBS Sports, USA TODAY Sports and The Athletic. 

Walter Camp is the first of five All-America teams that impacts the unanimous and consensus All-America team, which means Watts has a chance to be at least a consensus All-American. The last consensus All-American safety for Notre Dame was Kyle Hamilton in 2021. Prior to that it was Jeff Burris back in 1993.

Watts was a breakout star for Notre Dame in 2023, racking 47 tackles this season, and he added 2.5 tackles for loss and four pass breakups. 

Where he made his biggest impact was forcing turnovers, with the Nebraska native leading the nation with seven interceptions, and he also returned a fumble for a touchdown. In fact, all eight of his turnovers ended with scores, either directly from him or from the Irish offense.

Five of his interceptions resulted in an immediate touchdown from the Notre Dame offense on the ensuing drive, and two more resulted in field goals for the Irish.

Watts had his national breakout performance against USC when he intercepted reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams twice, setting up touchdowns on both plays. He ended the scoring in that game with a touchdown of his own as he returned a fumble for a touchdown in the 48-20 win.

Watts announced this week he plans to play in Notre Dame's Sun Bowl matchup against Oregon State.

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