Overview

Position: S

College: Notre Dame

Class: Senior (RS)

Age: 23

 

Measurables

Height: 5’11 3/4”

Weight: 204 lbs.

Arm length: 31 1/4″

Hand size: 8 5/8″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: N/A

10-yard split: N/A

Vertical jump: N/A

Broad jump: N/A

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Aggressive and versatile. Very good overall size. Mostly used as a deep safety but has lined up all over. Great acceleration and speed. Good quickness in the backpedal with burst going from backpedal to sprint. Very fluid flipping his hips on deep zone drops. Tremendous play recognition to see things in front of him as a deep safety. Shows sideline-to-sideline range. Urgent working backwards to cover perimeter routes starting closer to the line of scrimmage as a zone defender. Experience in man coverage from the slot and box. Very athletic defending underneath routes in man coverage. Quick covering shorter route breaks. Will undercut throws over the middle. Instinctive in coverage. Very effective playing the ball to break up passes at the catch point. Terrific ball skills with athleticism to dive for difficult interceptions. Saw snaps in man coverage on the perimeter. Used as a blitzer close to the line of scrimmage. Will see things begin to develop and immediately trigger downhill. Great agility weaving through traffic and filtering towards the ball. Very aggressive wrapping up and throwing himself in to help finish. Quick to break down and change direction. Will hit with thump. Tries to prevent blockers from attaching. Aggressive around the goal line. Very reliable playing outside run responsibilities around the goal line and wraps up on the edge. Team captain. Had a three-play stretch in the CFP National Championship where he tracked down running back TreVeyon Henderson on an outside run, chopped down running back Quinshon Judkins in the open field, and blew up wide receiver Jeremiah Smith in the backfield (2024).

 

Weaknesses

Deep drops/movements as a single-high safety can be more purposeful. Sometimes slow reacting towards the sideline to help on deep shots. Does it efficiently but will sometimes get turned around rather than moving his feet in cover transitions. Showed some issues sifting through traffic picking up route combinations in man coverage. Needs to avoid grabbing at the top of routes. Overruns some tackles by a step. Want to see him run through tackles more often. Could be more aggressive providing the impact when taking on blocks.

 

NFL comparison

Minkah Fitzpatrick

 

Conclusion

Overall, Watts is a versatile free safety with an ideal combination of size, instincts, cover ability, and ball skills. He should be a fit in any defensive scheme based on the aggressiveness and play recognition shown in a variety of roles.

 

Big Board ranking: #34 | Positional ranking: #3