Xavier Watts Is Doing Something No Falcons Rookie Has Since Deion Sanders

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Falcons have found an absolute gem in rookie safety Xavier Watts, and Monday’s performance punctuated why the team has been so excited about their young defender.

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Watts intercepted Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford twice on Monday Night Football, helping fuel the Atlanta Falcons’ most impressive win of the season and tying Hall of Famer Deion Sanders for the most interceptions by a rookie in team history – linebacker Al Richardson (seven) holds the record.

Xavier Watts has officially tied Deion Sanders with the second-most interceptions in a rookie season in franchise history with five. pic.twitter.com/zseMJgRBHG
— Tori McElhaney (@tori_mcelhaney) December 30, 2025

“It's a pretty cool accomplishment, something to be proud of,” Watts said after the win on Monday night. “Credit to all the hard work I've done this year, throughout my whole football journey. Just credit to my teammates as well. I wouldn't be in this position without them.”

The former third-round pick has been outstanding for the Falcons this season. That fifth interception also moved the rookie into a tie for second in the NFL – Bears safety Kevin Byard III leads the league with six.

As a converted wide receiver from his college days in South Bend, his elite ball-tracking skills made him an exciting prospect. Clearly, that ability has translated in a big way to the NFL game.

The rookie is also third on the team in combined tackles (89), a total that is also sixth among rookies.

“Xavier Watts has continued to show up throughout the course of the year,” head coach Raheem Morris said about the safety. “[He] just gets better and better and play at a very high level.”

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Jessie Bates III, who has taken Watts under his wing this season, also secured an interception of his own in this win that he returned for a touchdown. Falcons defensive coordinator had high praise for this tandem, saying the ceiling of this duo is the top of the NFL.

“He [Bates] is in that part of his career where it's like, I still want to improve, I still want to be the best, but at the same time, I want to bring Xavier with me, and want to help this kid become one of the best safeties,” Ulbrich said on Dec. 11th. “They’re becoming one of the best safety duos, if not the best safety duo in the league right now.”

Watts has made an immediate impact on this secondary.

“Yeah, that's little bro right there,” Bates said. “He was able to pick up on things. To see it translate to the field, I knew it throughout training camp, through OTAs, the way that he could process installs and stuff like that. I'm just proud of him.”

Watts has arrived faster than anyone expected, but the Falcons believe his ceiling is still far ahead of him.

With a veteran like Bates beside him and his confidence growing by the week, Atlanta may already have its safety pairing of the future, and Watts is proving that his rookie season may only be the beginning.