When Notre Dame entered the 2024 football season it did so with what was assumed to be one of the nation’s top secondaries. That was largely because of veteran cornerback Benjamin Morrison, safety Xavier Watts, and nickel back Jordan Clark.
Notre Dame fans that closely follow recruiting were familiar with the name Leonard Moore but honestly nobody knew what level he would play at, nor did they know how much he would play his freshman year.
Fast forward to early-April of 2025 and Moore, who became a full-time starter after Morrison’s injury in early-October, has been named college football’s top returning cornerback according to Pro Football Focus.
From Pro Football Focus:
“Since PFF began its top returning players at every position series in 2020, only seven rising true sophomores have been at the top of their respective positions. Three of those seven come this year, with Moore rounding out the bunch. Moore finished his true freshman season as the third-most-valuable corner in college football according to PFF’s wins above average metric, trailing only Jahdae Barron and Travis Hunter. He was especially good in Notre Dame’s man-heavy scheme, as his 82.5 grade in man coverage was third among all corners in the nation. The former three-star recruit is a smooth athlete at 6-foot-2 who mirrors receivers at an elite level already. In fact, he only allowed 16 of his 42 targets in single coverage to be caught.” – Max Chadwick, PFF
The accomplishment of being named the top player at his position seems impressive enough but a quick look at the seven players that have been called that by Pro Football Focus is even more impressive.
Derek Stingley, Jr., Tank Bigsby, Brock Bowers, Caleb Downs, Jeremiah Smith, and Collin Simmons. That’s special territory and Moore is a part of it.
Moore had a Notre Dame team-high 11 pass break ups last season and despite being just a sophomore will be viewed as one of the Fighting Irish defensive leaders entering the season.
Nick Shepkowski’s Quick Take:
Notre Dame’s run in secondary recruiting and development continues to show through. Throughout the years we’ve seen Notre Dame have a pretty good defensive back but the overall group not have much depth. When Moore stepped in as a full-time starter last year following Morrison’s injury, the defense didn’t miss a beat despite a potential first round NFL draft pick (pre-injury) being sidelined.
With Moore returning alongside safety Adon Shuler and corner Christian Gray, this group is again set up for big-time success despite the departures of Morrison, Watts, and Clark.
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