Notre Dame's Xavier Watts Denied Unanimous First Team All-American Honors

By every statistic measurable, Watts had a more deserving year

Oct 19, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Xavier Watts (0) celebrates after an interception against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Xavier Watts burst onto the scene defensively in 2023, bringing home the Bronco Nagurski Award as the nation's best defensive player.

The wide receiver-turned-safety then brought Notre Dame good news by deciding to return for his final year of eligibility in 2024, instead of entering the NFL draft.

What happened was that Watts followed up his massive showing in 2023 with an even better year in 2024, even if his interceptions totals dropped from seven to five.

Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts has been a ballhawk and turnover machine the last two seasons — 12 interceptions and 2 FFs in that time frame. But his instincts, ability to run the alley in run fits, and handle half field responsibilities in coverage really stand out in his game. pic.twitter.com/RAto2fNjl6

— Devin Jackson (@RealD_Jackson) December 2, 2024

Yet, as the Football Writers Association of America released its All-American Team on Tuesday, Watts didn't make the first team. The safety spots instead went to Caleb Downs of Ohio State and Malaki Starks of Georgia.

That means Watts won't earn Unanimous First-Team All-American honors for the second season in a row.

Downs is a player that doesn't get targeted often and understandably so but did haul in just one interception all season.

As for Starks, Greg Flammang of Irish Sports Daily broke down the numbers in comparison to Watts and its safe to say this was a big swing and a miss by the voters.

Per PFF

Xavier Watts, 2nd team: 15/28 against, 156 yards allowed, 5.6 ypa, 0 touchdowns allowed, 5 INTs, 9 PBU, 30.3 passer rating against

Malakai Starks, 1st team: 34/51 against, 462 yards allowed, 9.1 ypa, 2 touchdowns allowed, 1 INT, 3 PBU, 100.4 passer rating against https://t.co/cb9DwHGbDV pic.twitter.com/TM7I55EtIe

— Greg Flammang (@greg2126) December 17, 2024

Not only did Watts put up better numbers but he also did so for the nation's top-rated pass defense based on Opponent Average Team Passer Rating.

It's fine if you think Downs and Starks are both going to eventually better NFL prospects than Watts, but college football isn't played with the NFL in mind. It's played to win college football games as they are and Watts did a better job at helping his team do exactly that than either Downs or Starks in 2024.

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