Leonard Moore

Notre Dame's offense gets the headlines, but its best player might be the corner nobody throws at. As a sophomore, Leonard Moore was a unanimous All-American -- and he's back.

CB · Notre Dame · Cl 2 · #15

CFB Zeitgeist 51

Notre Dame's offense gets the headlines, but its best player might be the corner nobody throws at. As a sophomore, Leonard Moore was a unanimous All-American -- and he's back.

First-team by all five selectors after five interceptions (including a pick-six) and twelve pass breakups in just ten games -- second in the country in picks per game. PFF graded him the No. 1 Power-Four corner in coverage (92.6) and the No. 1 defensive back overall (92.0). He's the rare prospect with elite man-AND-zone technique plus the ball production that usually belongs to only one or the other -- the anchor of a secondary that ranked fourth nationally with 21 interceptions. He could have been a high pick; instead it's only his junior year. The forward stakes are a title: Notre Dame's offense has Carr, and its defense has the best cover corner in the country to roll everything else around. The only thing capping his numbers is that quarterbacks have started looking the other way -- and the 2026 question is whether the lockdown corner becomes the one who closes a championship.

PLAY STYLE

Moore is the rarest thing at the position: a corner who erases in man, robs in zone, and produces the ball -- usually you get one. PFF graded him the No. 1 Power-Four corner in coverage; he backed it with five interceptions and a dozen breakups in ten games, the production of a gambler paired with technique that never gambles. Watch the mirror: he rides a receiver's hip through the break, then locates the ball like a receiver himself. He's a true island corner -- the kind that lets a defense leave him alone and send its help everywhere else. There's no obvious hole to attack, which is the point: the only thing limiting his stat line is that quarterbacks have started avoiding his side entirely.

SOURCES

Career Arc

Recruit

★★★★

#430 national

CFB

College

Notre Dame

2025

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted (yet)

Trophy Case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

12 entries

🏆

ALL-AMERICA · CONSENSUS

Consensus AA (2025)

11 first-team selectors

Coaching Lineage · 2025

1 coach

2025

Marcus Freeman

Notre Dame

Played his entire career under Marcus Freeman.

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2025Notre Dame10-2HC: Marcus Freeman · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the CB cohort

51Mid-pack

7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: interceptions (98th). Strength: passes defended (96th). Concern: tackles for loss (7th).

Interceptions#6 / 817 · 98th pct

5inte

Passes defended#85 / 2975 · 96th pct

7defe

Solo tackles#839 / 2975 · 71st pct

23defe

Tackles#1302 / 2975 · 55th pct

31defe

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct

0.0defe

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct

0defe

Tackles for loss#2548 / 2975 · 7th pct

0.0defe

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Awards

Selector Grid · 2025

AP—

FWAA—

AFCA—

WCFF—

SN—

SI—

Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.

Trophy Case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

12 entries

🏆

ALL-AMERICA · CONSENSUS

Consensus AA (2025)

11 first-team selectors

Career stats

Defense

Season-by-season defensive box score for disruption and splash plays.

Season	Team	TOT	SOLO	TFL	SACK	PD	INT	FF
2025	Notre DameFinal snapshot	31	23	0.0	0.0	7	5	--
Career	1 loaded seasonCareer row reflects the stat seasons currently loaded in this database.	31	23	0.0	0.0	7	5	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2025

W 34–24

vs USC

3 TOT · 2 SOLO

Game log

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 24-27@ Miami	3	1	—	0
Wk 3	L 40-41vs Texas A&M	0	0	1	2
Wk 6	W 28-7vs Boise State	6	6	2	0	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 7	W 36-7vs NC State	3	3	—	0
Wk 8	W 34-24vs USC	3	2	—	0
Wk 10	W 25-10@ Boston College	5	2	—	1
Wk 11	W 49-10vs Navy	2	1	—	0
Wk 12	W 37-15@ Pittsburgh	3	3	—	0
Wk 13	W 70-7vs Syracuse	1	1	1	1
Wk 14	W 49-20@ Stanford	5	4	1	3
Total		31	23	5	7

How he plays

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the CB cohort

51Mid-pack

7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: interceptions (98th). Strength: passes defended (96th). Concern: tackles for loss (7th).

Interceptions#6 / 817 · 98th pct

5inte

Passes defended#85 / 2975 · 96th pct

7defe

Solo tackles#839 / 2975 · 71st pct

23defe

Tackles#1302 / 2975 · 55th pct

31defe

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct

0.0defe

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct

0defe

Tackles for loss#2548 / 2975 · 7th pct

0.0defe

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

PLAY STYLE

2026 Outlook

Returning to Notre Dame for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Cornerback · Notre Dame

Returning around him

37% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
6 Notre Dame players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -8 net (7 in / 15 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Notre Dame · Last season: 10-2 (AP #9) · Talent rank #9 · 2026 recruiting class #12

Perception vs tape

Notre Dame's offense gets the headlines, but its best player might be the corner nobody throws at. As a sophomore, Leonard Moore was a unanimous All-American — and he's back.

First-team by all five selectors after five interceptions (including a pick-six) and twelve pass breakups in just ten games — second in the country in picks per game. PFF graded him the No. 1 Power-Four corner in coverage (92.6) and the No. 1 defensive back overall (92.0). He's the rare prospect with elite man-AND-zone technique plus the ball production that usually belongs to only one or the other — the anchor of a secondary that ranked fourth nationally with 21 interceptions. He could have been a high pick; instead it's only his junior year. The forward stakes are a title: Notre Dame's offense has Carr, and its defense has the best cover corner in the country to roll everything else around. The only thing capping his numbers is that quarterbacks have started looking the other way — and the 2026 question is whether the lockdown corner becomes the one who closes a championship.

How he plays

Moore is the rarest thing at the position: a corner who erases in man, robs in zone, and produces the ball — usually you get one. PFF graded him the No. 1 Power-Four corner in coverage; he backed it with five interceptions and a dozen breakups in ten games, the production of a gambler paired with technique that never gambles. Watch the mirror: he rides a receiver's hip through the break, then locates the ball like a receiver himself. He's a true island corner — the kind that lets a defense leave him alone and send its help everywhere else. There's no obvious hole to attack, which is the point: the only thing limiting his stat line is that quarterbacks have started avoiding his side entirely.

2026 outlook · as of 2026-06-13

src

DNA match

Player DNA

The Ball Hawk

Reads the quarterback's eyes and takes the ball away.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Joey Porter Jr.’s 2022 season.

Joey Porter Jr.

77%match

Penn State · 2022

All-Big TenNFL Rd 2 · Pk 1

Darrell Baker Jr.

Georgia Southern · 2021

76%

Leon Jones

Arkansas State · 2023

74%

Jacobe Covington

USC · 2022

71%

Trey Amos

Louisiana · 2022

NFL Rd 2 · Pk 29

71%

Matches Joey on

Weight

Height

Tackle volume

Differs from Joey on

Class year (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Kaleb Martin's sophomore season at Miami (OH) (2025).

Kaleb Martin

88%match

Miami (OH) · 2025

Demello Jones

Georgia · 2025

80%

Wylan Free

Fresno State · 2021

78%

Isaiah Herron

BYU · 2021

78%

Justin Eaglin

James Madison · 2025

77%

Matches Kaleb on

Class year

Height

PD rate

Peer comparator

Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match

Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile

3 peers · 7 metrics

Leonard MooreNotre DameDalton JohnsonArizona· 72% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 71% simDevin LafayetteTroy· 68% sim

Interceptions

98
Moore

95
Johnson

75
Lafayette

Passes defended

96
Moore

96
Johnson

91
Ra-El

91
Lafayette

Solo tackles

71
Moore

97
Johnson

100
Ra-El

98
Lafayette

Tackles

55
Moore

98
Johnson

99
Ra-El

99
Lafayette

Sacks

24
Moore

63
Johnson

24
Ra-El

63
Lafayette

QB hurries

22
Moore

22
Johnson

22
Ra-El

22
Lafayette

Tackles for loss

7
Moore

47
Johnson

56
Ra-El

56
Lafayette

Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.

Heisman trajectory

Heisman futures · live sportsbook odds

#3 in market ▲ from #5 · 4 books

+90010.0% implied▲ tightened from +1200