Sporting News has released its 2024 Preseason All-America teams that feature five University of Notre Dame football student-athletes. Graduate defensive lineman Howard Cross III, junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison and senior safety Xavier Watts were selected to the first team, while senior tight end Mitchell Evans and graduate kick returner Jayden Harrison earned second-team honors.
Watts was a first-team Sporting News All-American in 2023, while Cross III was named to the second team.
Xavier Watts
A 2023 Unanimous All-American and Nagurski Trophy winner, Watts enters 2024 as one of the preeminent defensive backs in college football. He has already been named to watch lists for the Bednarik Award, the Nagurski Trophy, the Walter Camp Player of the Year and the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award. In 2023, he tied for the national lead with seven interceptions, averaging an interception every other game.
Watts played and started in all 13 games during the season, finishing with 52 tackles, 30 solo, three tackles for loss and 0.5 sack, adding four pass breakups. He forced a fumble and recovered a fumble, returning it for a touchdown. Watts’ seven interceptions led to 33 total Notre Dame points on the subsequent drives.
Off his consecutive two-interception games vs. Pitt and USC, Watts was the first Notre Dame defender to pick off two passes in back-to-back games since at least 1996. He was one of three FBS players to achieve two multi-INT games in 2023, and the only to do so in consecutive games. He earned Nagurski Defensive Player of the Week honors for both of those performances in 2023.
Howard Cross III
He piled up 66 stops in 2023, which ranked second among all Power 5 front-four defensive lineman. This 2024 preseason, he has earned selection to watch lists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, the Outland Trophy and the Nagurski Trophy.
A Bednarik Award semifinalist, Cross III announced his status as a premiere defensive player in the country during the come-from-behind battle at No. 17 Duke on September 30. Leading the Irish with 13 tackles, Cross III also forced two fumbles (including the game-clinching fumble with 0:27 remaining) and claimed national defensive player of the week honors from Walter Camp, the Bednarik Award and the Senior Bowl. Cross III earned Second Team All-America honors from FWAA, Walter Camp, the Associated Press and The Sporting News in 2023.
The Duke game was not the only standout performance by Cross III that…