Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts Sees Draft Stock Rise in Latest NFL Mock Draft
This week the NFL announced its invitees to the 2025 NFL combine in Indianapolis and eight former Notre Dame standouts are set to participate.
Two of the names scheduled to participate are safety Xavier Watts and cornerback Benjamin Morrison.
Watts was one of college football’s elite safeties the last two seasons while Morrison was among the nation’s finest cornerbacks before suffering a hip injury midway through the year that cost him the remainder of the season.
Xavier Watts and Benjamin Morrison Appear in Latest Chad Reuter Mock Draft
Chad Reuter of NFL.com released his latest mock draft earlier this week and it had both Xavier Watts and Benjamin Morrison being selected in the first three rounds.
Reuter called for the Cleveland Browns to select Xavier Watts in the second round with the 36th overall pick while he has Morrison going to the New York Giants to open the third round with the 65th overall pick.
Nick Shepkowski’s Quick Take:
The two former Notre Dame players that Reuter has going in the first three rounds are certainly interesting cases.
Watts has performed as well as any safety in the country the last two seasons, yet only now are we seeing him start to climb early into the second round in projections like Reuter offers. If you simply watch the tape of Watts and don’t overly concern yourself with spreadsheet numbers, he’s got a great case to be a first round pick and for his bank account I hope he can sneak into the end of that first round.
As for Morrison, the hip injury is a tough one to get a feel for. He has his procedure for it but when he’s able to return and be a full-go remains to be seen. When he’s available he’s as good as any cornerback in the draft but the injury certainly leaves question to that. Here’s to hoping he’s back sooner than later and can quiet some of those concerns ahead of April’s draft.
