Falcons' Jessie Bates, Xavier Watts Have One Trait That Makes Them Elite

FLOWERY BRANCH – The Atlanta Falcons return one of the NFL’s best up-and-coming safety duos, and one key trait has been at the center of their immediate success. Jessie Bates III, who is fresh off yet another All-Pro season, and Xavier Watts, who was a finalist for the AP NFL Rookie of the Year, are looking to repeat an outstanding 2025 season.

Watts and Bates has not yet taken the field together in 2026, while Watts recovers from an undisclosed injury, but the hype has still found a way to build.

Effective communication, both verbal and non-verbal, have been at the core of what these two safeties have developed.

“They have this thing where they’re just talking without talking,” linebacker Divine Deablo, who also referred to Bates and Watts as the best safety tandem in the NFL, said during offseason activities. “They always know what they’re both thinking.”

Both players have been celebrated for their intelligence, which has been central to their rise to the top of the sport. Having Watts learn from Bates last year helped his development and allowed him to make an immediate impact on an improved 2025 defense. Alone, they are strong – they were the only pair to account for more than 95 tackles each and record three interceptions – but together, they form a formidable duo.

“It’s extremely important to have that [relationship], and especially when you have that, you can have versatility to what you're doing with both players,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “They can feed off of each other. A lot of the dialogue and the communication that happens back there oftentimes is signal or sometimes nonverbal, communicating amongst yourselves out to the corners, certainly with the linebackers in the nerve center. But having guys that are on the same page is a very big deal.”

When defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has that in his back pocket, it allows him to be a bit more ambitious elsewhere. Ulbrich, who referred to his safeties as “as good as [he’s] ever been around, can mix-and-match his scheme, while never sacrificing his safety net in the final third.

For a playcaller, having that flexibility is invaluable.

The safeties are uniquely responsible for serving as the eyes and brain of the defense. They communicate plays and formations to the cornerbacks and the rest of their teammates, making sure they are all coordinated.

If they are disjointed in any way, it could spell immediate disaster for the entire defense.

“You can push the envelope a little bit in terms of scheme and asking to do a little bit more [when you have that],” Stefanski continued. “We may ask this safety to drop down to the box, and then this one to go to the post. But if we get this look, we're going to change it, or you're both going to be back. There's just no end to what you can do when it comes to X's and O's, but you have to have the players that are capable of doing all that. We have that with our safeties.”

The Falcons believe there is another level to Watts’ game, while Bates enters the final year of the deal he signed in 2023 when he joined the franchise. Whether that partnership extends beyond this fall is undecided, but either way, the safety position is in good hands for this season.

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