The Atlanta Falcons found one of the best values of the 2025 draft when Xavier Watts fell to them in the third round. Fox Sport Ralph Vacchiano thinks the safety is only getting started.
In a piece naming one breakout candidate from every NFC team, Vacchiano tabbed Watts as the Falcons' player poised for a star turn in 2026.
The question isn't whether Watts can play. It's how good he can get.
Vacchiano started with the trait that made Watts a star in college. After picking off 13 passes over his final two seasons at Notre Dame, the ball-hawking instincts were never in doubt. The only concern was whether his skillset would carry over to the NFL.
That concern appears to be gone.
"Well, there's no question now," Vacchiano wrote, after Watts finished fourth in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.
"The only question now is, how high is his ceiling?"
He pointed to an all-around game that goes beyond the takeaways, and set an aggressive bar for where it all leads.
"He has the potential to be a regular among NFL interception leaders and an anchor in the Atlanta secondary for a long time," Vacchiano wrote.
The rookie production backed up every word. Watts led all rookies with five interceptions, a total that tied for second in the entire NFL, and added 96 tackles, 11 passes defensed and a fumble recovery across his first season. Denzel Burke of the Arizona Cardinals was the next-closest rookie with three.
He made his presence know early. Watts iced a Sunday night win over the Minnesota Vikings with a late fourth-quarter interception, becoming the first Falcons rookie with multiple interceptions since Deion Jones in 2016, and earned a spot on the PFWA All-Rookie Team.
His draft slide still looks like a mistake by the rest of the league.
Atlanta traded up five spots with the Philadelphia Eagles to grab Watts at No. 96, sending away a 2026 fifth-round pick to move from 101. A two-time consensus All-American and the 2023 Bronko Nagurski Award winner as the nation's top defender somehow slid into the third round, despite recording more interceptions than any FBS player over his final two college seasons.
The Falcons paired him immediately with All-Pro Jessie Bates III, and the veteran came away impressed with how little rattled the rookie.
"As a safety, you got to be poised. You got to be calm. You got to be able to communicate when things get crazy. And I never see him panic or anything like that," Bates said, per Falcon Report .
That poise matters more than ever heading into 2026. Bates is entering a contract year, and Watts is under team control for three more seasons, which makes the 24-year-old the long-term building block of the Atlanta secondary no matter what happens with his veteran partner.
Watts already proved he belongs. Now he gets to chase the ceiling Vacchiano laid out, and a Falcons defense that leaned on him as a rookie is betting the best is still coming.
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