Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1535097
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SUMMER 2025 31 showcase he held in front of 25 NFL teams the Monday before the draft at his high school, Phoenix Brophy Prep. He tried to show teams that his October hip injury was no longer a factor. As most expected, it wasn't enough for Morrison to rise all the way back up to the first round, which was his pro- jection before the 2024 season. And to be fair, he wasn't the only one. Knee concerns dropped Michigan cornerback Will Johnson, also a consensus first- round prospect a year ago, to No. 47 overall. Morrison came off the board at No. 53, the 21st pick of the second round. It wasn't what he wanted, but it was worth the wait. "Obviously, every kid's dream is to go first round," Morrison said. "But look, that wasn't my story. My story's a sec- ond-round pick. Fifty-three. I'm proud to say that. I'm very proud to say that." Morrison became the highest-drafted Notre Dame cornerback since Bobby Taylor in 1995, and the first of six Fight- ing Irish players selected in 2025. He was one of the stingiest cover corners in college football, and he changed what it meant to play the position in South Bend. If his hip is indeed healthy, there's a good chance Morrison rewards Licht and Bowles for taking a chance on him. "A draft pick doesn't really matter, because at the end of the day, it's an op- portunity," Morrison said. "And I got to go and seize that." WATTS' SLIDE ENDS WITH ATLANTA TRADE With their second pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons traded up from No. 46 to No. 26 to select Ten- nessee edge rusher James Pierce Jr. As a result, the Falcons had no selections between 26 and 101. This was a problem for general man- ager Terry Fontenot, because he wanted Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts. "We knew he could go before us, so we were aggressive and we went up and got him," Fontenot said. "And we're very excited about that." Watts fell further than expected, with some projecting him as high as the early second round. Once he slipped to the late third, Fontenot and the Falcons couldn't wait any longer. They traded pick No. 101 and a 2026 fifth-rounder to the Philadelphia Eagles for pick No. 96, which they used to end Watts' slide. "We had Xavier Watts up there pretty high [on our draft board]," Fontenot said. "High in instincts. Former receiver, ball hawk. More picks than anybody in college ball the last two years. This guy's a stud, versatile, all those things." Watts will begin his NFL career where he ended his time in college: Mercedes- Benz Stadium in Atlanta. He has an op- portunity to start right away in a thin Falcons safety room, behind an up- graded pass rush with Pearce and Jalon Walker, the No. 15 pick out of Georgia. "It was a crazy feeling," Watts said. "I waited all night, and it was just good to get the call from the Falcons. I'm just really excited to be a part of the team." Watts will also join forces with vet- eran Falcons safety Jessie Bates III, whom he said he models his game after. Bates picked off 10 passes in his first two seasons in Atlanta, while Watts got 13 at Notre Dame. "I just think we're very similar," Watts said. "We're similar in size. He gets the ball. He's a playmaker. He can tackle well." Why did a player as productive as Watts fall as far as he did? Average size and below-average speed were the pri- mary factors. At just under 6 feet, Watts ran a 4.56 40-yard dash at his Pro Day, which would have ranked 12th out of 15 safeties at the NFL Scouting Combine. However, Watts' instincts and ball skills stood out to the Falcons and should translate to the next level. "You see it the first couple times and it's like, 'Man, he's just [in the] right place at the right time,'" Falcons area scout Ryan Doyal said. "And then he just keeps doing it. And then he comes back for another year and he does the exact same thing again. So, the instincts truly stand out with this player. They're phenomenal." Those instincts go a long way toward making up for lack of track speed. Safety is a position, Doyal explained, where being two steps ahead of your opponent can make a massive difference. "We have a great one in Jessie Bates, but those types of players play for a re- ally long time in the league," Doyal said. "X is one of the smartest players I've ever watched at safety." SENIOR BOWL HELPS 'MR. NOTRE DAME' GO EARLY ON DAY 3 When Jack Kiser starred at Senior Bowl practice in late January, James Gladstone was the Los Angeles Rams' director of scouting. Gladstone watched Kiser make play after play in coverage — one of his ques- tion marks coming out of Notre Dame — and win the National Team's Linebacker of the Week award. Crucially, he also moonlighted at safety due to dwindling numbers. That nugget might not have Safety Xavier Watts' instincts and ball skills stood out to the Falcons, so they traded up to select him late in the third round at No. 96 overall. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME Linebacker Jack Kiser's stellar performance at the Senior Bowl stood out to the ne w Jacksonville general manager James Gladstone, who selected "Mr. Notre Dame" with the 107th overall pick early in the fourth round. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME