Former Notre Dame star Xavier Watts offers insight into the team’s safety position choices in 2025

Xavier Watts had his media session at the ongoing NFL Scouting Combine at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Wednesday. The former Notre Dame safety answered a host of questions about himself, his college career and his aspirations for the professional league.

His departure for the NFL is, without a doubt, a major loss for Notre Dame's defensive back room following his solid four seasons at the program. However, the Fighting Irish still have a lot of good players to fill in. He offered his insight on his replacement at the Combine.

“Luke Tallich would be a good guy,” Xavier Watt said. “Ben Minich, those are good guys, and then I know they got some transfers. So, I don't know. I don't know what's going to go up out there. I'm not the coach. I'm not up there. But obviously, I want to see those guys succeed.”

Notre Dame saw off Penn State in the semifinal of the College Football Playoff in January. The game saw Xavier Watt come up against arguably the best tight end in the nation, Tyler Warren. The defensive back had a good game at the Orange Bowl.

During his media session at the Combine on Thursday, he stressed that the experience against Warren gave him a glimpse of what to expect in the NFL. This has pretty much aided his preparation.

“He's a really talented player,” Watt said (Timestamp 12:45). “He's a really big guy. They used a lot of different ways. Having being prepared for a certain player like that, I know at the next level, everybody in the field is a good player.”

“Some guys are superstars, where they're going to get a game plan to get them the ball. So, just having that experience with Tyler Warren was similar to what I'm going to get in the NFL.”

Xavier Watt on being the next NFL player from Omaha

Being able to put your hometown on the map is the pride of every football player. Xavier Watt is getting this opportunity by becoming the next kid from Omaha to play in the NFL. The city doesn't have a deep history in the league.

“It's really cool,” Watt said (Timestamp 14:39). “Not a lot of people come from Omaha and come to the NFL. I think the last guy might have been Noah Fant. Maybe I missed somebody, but I think I can just think of Noah Fant. So it's really cool to get this opportunity and kind of put Omaha on the map.

Noah Fant currently plays as a tight end for the Seattle Seahawks. He was drafted as the 20th overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos, following a noteworthy college career at Iowa.