Falcons need Xavier Watts to break his sophomore slump in Week 4 vs. Saints

It wasn't all that long ago that Xavier Watts looked like he would be the face of this Atlanta Falcons defense. After picking off five passes as a rookie last year, he finished fourth in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting, and Falcons fans were expecting him to be the next great ball-hawking safety.

Unfortunately for Watts, he has been hit with a very common sickness in the NFL: Sophomore Slump Syndrome. And if you were unable to tell the very clearly-named affliction, he's regressed in Year 2, which is in large part because Jessie Bates has taken a few steps back and partly because the pass rush has gotten all the buzz for this Atlanta defense.

This isn't to say he's been a bust or anything like that, because that couldn't be further from the truth, but Year 2 has been disappointing relative to expectations. We were expecting a leap toward that Kyle Hamilton tier of safeties, and unfortunately, that hasn't happened yet through three games.

However, things do seem to be turning around for him. In the Week 3 win over the Packers, he recorded the game-sealing interception of Jordan Love, after dropping one earlier on the drive. But it also marked his sixth career interception in just 20 games. Since Week 1 of last season, only Devin Lloyd and Kevin Byard (7) have more picks than Watts' six.

Obviously the Falcons would love to see Watts start performing like his 2025 self again, but right now it's been out of his control--though this could've been a pick-six had he not went down intentionally to end the game. Good thing his next audition comes on Monday night at the Superdome.

The Falcons need Xavier Watts to start performing like his 2025 self again

Watts' calling card has been as a ball hawk who can force turnovers, but Jeff Ulbrich's defense hasn't been generating takeaways at a high rate this year. Through three games, the Falcons defense has mustered just two takeaways, and his pick was the only interception they have picked up all season.

Those takeaway numbers cannot continue if this team wants to keep winning games. The pass-rush has been elite, but now it's on the secondary to do their jobs, and that starts with getting the 24-year-old going. Last week was the spark, but now we need to see the flame be sustained going forward.

You can even see how much better the Dirty Birds look when the 2025 third-round pick is doing his thing. The proof is in the pudding. Again, Pro Football Focus isn't always the most reputable site, but Watts was still their fourth-highest graded safety in Week 3 because he finally did what this team needed from him by breaking the pick drought.

Now that the Falcons are set to face the Saints on primetime, they're again going to need the former All-American at Notre Dame to step up. New Orleans won't have much of a run game without Travis Etienne, so slowing down their passing attack (and their top pass-catchers) is the key to victory.

Tyler Shough has been known to throw a meatball sub or two in his day, and winning the turnover battle (and containing Chris Olave) is how Atlanta wins this game and takes over first place in the NFC South. And winning the turnover battle starts and ends with Watts having another moment on national TV.

Xavier Watts hasn't been the MVP of the defense this season, but if he really wants to buy some goodwill amid a slow start, continuing the interception streak and halting Shough's breakout year en route to a road win is the way to do it.

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