Miami Dolphins draft crushes: Notre Dame S Xavier Watts

The Miami Dolphins entered the 2025 offseason with both of their starting safeties set to hit free agency.  As many fans feared, Jevon Holland ended up leaving town, signing a 3-year, $45 million contract with thew New York Giants. Jordan Poyer was no big loss after a disappointing year. 

The Dolphins addressed the position by signing a pair of veterans in former Lion Ifeatu Melifonwu and former Jet Ashtyn Davis.  However, both are in town on one-year deals, and the Dolphins must surely be looking for a long-term answer. 

Miami could address this need by drafting Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts in the second round of the draft. 

Watts had quite the career with the Irish, spearheading a defense that helped carry Notre Dame to their first national championship game appearance in 12 years.  He delivered an incredible 13 interceptions over his last two seasons, leading FBS with 7 picks in 2023. 

It's that area where the Dolphins should be keenly interested in Watts.  While Holland was a strong all-around player for four years on the back end of the Dolphins' defense, his primary knock was his inability to generate interceptions.  In four seasons, he came away with just 5 and only one of them came during the last two years. 

Watts is going to be surely gone by the end of the second round, and the Dolphins pick in the middle at 48.  I don't expect to see Miami address the safety position at 13, but if Watts is sliding towards them in the second, it would be hard to pass him up, given his elite ball skills and substantial college production. 

We'll find out soon enough, as the NFL Draft gets underway on Thursday, April 24 from Green Bay, Wisconsin.