Four Notre Dame players make Walter Camp Preseason All-American team

Cross III, Watts Earn Walter Camp Preseason First-Team All-American Honors

SOUTH BEND, IN – The Walter Camp Football Foundation has announced its 2024 Preseason All-America teams, featuring four University of Notre Dame football student-athletes. Senior defensive back Xavier Watts and senior defensive tackle Howard Cross III were selected to the first team, while junior defensive back Benjamin Morrison and senior kick returner Jayden Harrison earned second team honors.

Watts and Harrison were first-team Walter Camp All-Americans in 2023, while Cross III was selected to the second team.

Xavier Watts

The winner of the 2023 Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation’s best defensive player, Watts led the nation in interceptions in ’23 with seven and established himself as one of the best playmaking safeties in the country. He is the first Notre Dame player to post back-to-back games with multiple interceptions and just the fifth FBS player to do so in the last five seasons. Watts also became the first Notre Dame player to intercept a pass in three straight games this year.

Watts, a two-time national defensive player of the week in 2023, earned his first award after dominating the Oct. 14 game against No. 6 Southern Cal, collecting seven tackles, twice intercepting reigning Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams, forcing a fumble and also recovering another fumble, returning it for a touchdown.

He followed up Southern Cal’s performance with two more interceptions in the win over Pittsburgh. All seven of Watts’ interceptions this season have directly led to Notre Dame points, including five touchdowns.

Watts finished the season fifth on Notre Dame’s team with 47 tackles, including 2.5 TFL, four passes broken up, one fumble recovery, and one forced fumble. His 137 interception return yards are the second-most at Notre Dame since 1996 (Julian Love, 2017, 153).

Howard Cross III

Cross III, a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award, announced his status as one of the nation’s top defenders during the come-from-behind battle at No. 17 Duke on Sept. 30. Cross III led the Irish with 13 tackles, also forced two fumbles (including the go-ahead fumble with 0:27 remaining) and won national defensive player of the week honors from Walter Camp, the Bednarik Award and the Senior Bowl.

The Duke game wasn’t Cross III’s only notable performance this season. He piled up seven tackles at No. 25 Louisville, seven more at Clemson and added nine more stops in the home finale against Wake Forest. His 64 tackles this season tie him for the lead among all Power 5 defensive linemen, and he’s one of just eight FBS front-four defensive players to have 60 or more tackles this season.

Finally, Cross III’s 64 stops this season are the most for an Irish defensive lineman since Trevor Laws made 112 tackles in 2007. The 64 tackles are the 13th-best total for an Irish defensive lineman in the front-four formation since 1986.

Benjamin Morrison

Morrison, a 2023 Thorpe Award semifinalist, is among the most experienced and talented cornerbacks returning to the FBS in 2024. In 25 games over the past two seasons, the Phoenix, Arizona, native has intercepted nine passes, including six during his rookie season in 2022, while adding 64 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss. A unanimous Freshman All-American in 2022, Morrison followed that up in 2023 by leading the team with 10 pass breakups and collecting three more interceptions.

Jayden Harrison

Harrison was a first-team All-American as a kick returner at Marshall last season, finishing second in the nation with an average of 30.7 yards per return. He tied for the FBS lead with two kick return touchdowns in 2023.

Throughout his career, Harrison has returned 60 kickoffs for 1,522 yards (an average of 25.4 yards per return) and three touchdowns, while catching 71 passes for 779 yards and four scores.