INDIANAPOLIS— Xavier Watts is still only five weeks out from completing the longest college football season in history. The Notre Dame safety played in 16 games this past season, as the Fighting Irish fought their way into the National Championship game.

With such a gauntlet leading into the biggest job interview of his career, Watts elected to sideline himself for the on field workouts in Indianapolis.

"It was a long season. I didn't want to push anything to limits I didn't think I could go to," Watts explained to reporters on Thursday. "I'm confident in my abilities and I'm fine without some of those things and confident I crushed the interviews."

In those interviews, Watts—who was elected a team captain for 2024—hopes to show clubs what they would add to both their back end and locker room if drafting him.

"Coming into the season, especially being a captain, it really, you know, forced me to be out there and be a true leader," Watts said. "Especially as one of the veteran guys back there really preparing me for this next level because at the next level you got to talk, you got to be a communicator, you got to be very mature.

"I feel like I have instincts you can't coach. I mean my game film speaks for itself. I make a lot of plays on the ball and that's because I'm trusting what I'm feeling. I can't play slow (so) just out there playing fast."

The four-year safety will workout at Notre Dame's Pro Day. For most clubs though, Watts has put together impressive tape that tells them a lot of what they need to know about this DB.

In his final season, Watts accumulated 83 tackles, nine passes defended and six interceptions, including a pick-six. There is one play though that Watts has found coaches and scouts like to bring up the most.

"The Virginia game, when I got an interception," Watts shared. "I had broken before the receiver broke on the ball. It was third down. I knew the guy was going to be running the dig. And I had really good instincts. I trust, when I feel something I'm just going to do it. So I trusted he was going to run the dig, I broke for the dig, he ran the dig, and I got an interception."

Hunter wants to do it all

The question isn't whether or not Travis Hunter will be a high draft pick, but rather how teams will choose to play him once in the NFL. The Colorado corner and receiver who won the Heisman trophy after a stellar year (96 receptions for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns as a receiver; 35 tackles, 11 passes defended and four interceptions as a corner) told reporters on Thursday that as he's met with different teams this week at the combine, the position they are interested in him playing changes from team to team.

Yet, while holding court in front of the largest crowd of reporters this week, Hunter confidently told the assembled media he wants to play both sides of the ball in the league.

"I know I can do it," said Hunter. "There's a lot more breaks in the NFL."

Hunter played under Deion Sanders, a noted two-sport athlete. But Hunter is still different in the sense that he is playing two positions in the same sport, often taking the field at Colorado for 90 plus-percent of snaps each game.

It's virtually unheard of to do so in the NFL. Hunter knows that. But as he said Thursday, he also knows himself.

"They say nobody has ever done it the way that I do it, but I tell them I'm just different, I'm a different person."

The ultimate journey for Andrew Mukuba

As a safety Andrew Mukuba has to do a lot of communicating on the field. From that secondary position, he keeps those in front of him in place, assess the offense and negates deep threats. It's a lot of responsibility and one Mukuba, an NFL prospect participating in this week's combine, does well.

It's a skill that can be taken for granted at times, and one Mukuba had to hone after immigrating to America as a child. A native of Harare, Zimbabwe, Mukuba and his family were granted asylum when he was nine years old and settled in Austin, Texas.

"We used to go to school and learn English where I was from," Mukuba recalled Thursday while speaking to reporters. "So when I was there, I was able to speak English, but it wasn't as fluent, but just, going to school, being around friends, all I spoke was English. The only time I don't speak English is when I'm talking to my mom."

It's one of the many interesting tidbits that arise during combine week, when all 32 clubs are sifting through hundreds of prospects, learning the person as much as the player to determine who would be the best fit for their club.

Mukuba's journey will inevitably stand out. But he's also counting on his production and tape being his calling card. After spending three seasons at Clemson, Mukuba transferred home to Texas so his mom could watch him play his final year of college ball. In that one season with the Longhorns, Mukuba accumulated 69 total tackles, six passes defended and five interceptions, as well as a forced fumble.

"I'm hoping to prove to myself really, but also prove to everybody that I'm the best safety in this draft for sure," Mukuba told reporters. "I know guys come up here and say that, but I actually believe it and mean it."