When Leonard Moore stepped onto campus in South Bend for his freshman year, the three-star cornerback was not showered with the overwhelming hype that some of his peers from across the country garnered. It wouldn't take long before the country was put on notice.
Photo by The Irish Tribune
Ranking 42nd at his position, Moore was almost somewhat of an afterthought in Notre Dame's 2024 recruiting class, who many figured to get mostly mop-up duties in blowouts as well as special teams snaps. After Notre Dame's week 4 victory over Miami-OH, fellow cornerback Jaden Mickey decided to use his redshirt and ultimately transfer out of the program. It was then Moore's number that was called the following week to start against Louisville in place of injured starter Christian Gray. The very next week against Stanford, All-American Benjamin Morrison suffered what would end up being a season-ending injury. On the surface, the hip injury that prematurely ended Morrison's Notre Dame career would be tough for the Fighting Irish to overcome. In reality, what it did was provide the opportunity for a hungry Leonard Moore to prove that rankings are not nearly as important as the name that follows them.
So what did Moore do with his opportunity? He decided to become a Freshman All-American en route to turning into one of the best young defensive backs in the entire country. Without him, Notre Dame does not go on their magical playoff run which culminated in a championship showdown with Ohio State. I want to take a look back at some plays from the course of the year that really shined a light on his potential and what he can still work on going forward.
A cornerback's first job will never be run support, but when a big physical defensive back on the perimeter can help clean up on outside runs, it's only going to boost his stock.
Right out of the gate as a full-time starter, Moore showed a willingness to come down and take on ball carriers one-on-one. The above clip is from the Georgia Tech game. Moore takes a step inside on the snap to follow the WR, but once he recognizes the run, he is able to get back to the outside shoulder of the running back and not give up the sideline, making the tackle in space.
From the same game, this is another very impressive stop. Moore is able to take on the lead blocker who goes low on him, maintains his balance, and wraps up the running backs legs to allow very little yardage gained.
Here again, Moore quickly keys run, drives on the ball carrier, and wins the leverage battle, making a textbook tackle on a very good running back.
When the lights were brightest against the best competition in the country, it was business as usual for Moore. He again takes a few steps inside, but has the change of direction and acceleration to get back to the numbers, avoid a stiff arm from TreVeyon Henderson who routinely runs through cornerbacks, and makes a solid tackle.
Run support is a great attribute, but no corner becomes an All-American without stellar Man to Man coverage and Moore is an absolute technician in that department.
Moore does everything right here. He Maintains good leverage on the inside shoulder of the WR, allowing the sideline to be used as an extra defender. He shows excellent discipline and patience vs the double move and never allows himself to be stacked. Georgia Tech clearly calls this play thinking they would get a chance at a deep shot, but you can see the quarterback go to throw it and have to pull it back down and bail due to Moore's excellent positioning. A+ work from the freshman.
Here, Georgia Tech brings the WR back and forth in motion in order to get him a free release. Moore does a good job of following without being overaggressive. Moore gets back to his spot and once the WR plants and turns, Moore drives on the ball using his off hand to bat the pass down without going through the receiver and drawing a flag.
Against arguably the best WR in the country, Jeremiah Smith, Moore shows he very much belongs on the same field. Smith runs a whip route in the above clip, and Moore once again shows off his fluid change of direction when in man coverage, planting and staying on the hip of Smith when he breaks back towards the sideline. He is able to utilize his long arms and get another pass breakup.
Even on this play which ends up being a completed pass, Moore does a great job of being physical at the line and getting hands on Smith. Smith gets away with a bit of a push-off at the top of the route, but because Moore was in such a good position, he is still able to recover and limit any YAC.
In the tight red zone area here, Jeremiah Smith takes an inside release hoping to get Moore to commit on an in-breaking route before working back out toward the sideline. Instead, Moore stays patient in his trail technique and is step for step with Smith at the top of the route taking away one of the initial reads for Will Howard. Yes, the play ends up as a touchdown for OSU but Moore played his role to perfection.
Here is an outside release up the sideline by the WR who does get an initial step on Moore, but Moore never panics and shows off some good recovery speed, and the ability to locate the ball with his back to the QB. He stays in good enough position to disrupt the catch at the point of attack.
Leonard Moore also brought a level of competitive toughness as a Freshman that speaks to how high his ceiling truly is.
In a bittersweet example, this is one of my favorite plays of the season by Moore. It was an early backbreaker to Notre Dame's championship outlook, but Moore flat-out showed zero quit. It was a counter play that Quinshon Judkins chose to bounce back up the middle. He was already in full gallop by the time he hit the 30-yard line with Moore being at almost a complete stop about five yards behind him. Judkins cleared the second-level defenders with Gray trying to come from his corner spot and make a play, but he did not have a great angle. Moore got on his horse and showed incredible acceleration, hawking Judkins down around the 5-yard line, and saving a touchdown on the play. It doesn't matter that the drive ended in points for OSU, Moore showed what can take a great player to elite status.
As with every player that has ever touched the gridiron, mistakes will be made. Although Moore had significantly fewer errors than the normal freshman, there were still some things that he could clean up and take his game to an even higher level.
There were times on his high school film that Moore would get caught peeking in the backfield even when aligned in man coverage. That reared its head on a couple of occasions during his freshman campaign. In the above clip, Moore is lined up in the slot over Emeka Egbuka. Egbuka does not get off the line of scrimmage with much urgency and runs his route almost at half speed. Moore gets a little lackadaisical because of that, and starts watching Howard's eyes. Once Egbuka feels Moore ease up, he can uncover and find a void for Howard to fit the ball into and picks up a nice gain on the play.
At 6'2" and around 190 pounds, Moore is not a small corner by any means. He has the length and physical tools to be the aggressor at the line of scrimmage and thrive in press coverage. In this particular rep though, he allows Smith to bully him off the ball. He lets Smith get into his chest and knock him off balance before he can get his hands on him. The ball goes elsewhere on the play, but Smith had Moore beat and would have been an easy target for Will Howard. Moore needs to continue to work on being physical at the LOS and re-routing WRs.
Biggest Offseason Focuses for Improvement
Line of Scrimmage Skills - Moore proved time and time again throughout his freshman season that he can line up in the face of WRs and mirror them off the line with ease. The area I would like to see him make an even bigger jump next season is disrupting routes with improved hand usage and the timing of his jams. He has the length and strength to do so, and once he puts it together receivers will not look forward to playing Notre Dame week to week.
Eye Discipline - With Chris Ash taking over as defensive coordinator, there is a chance we will see some increased zone coverage being played. Moore thrived in a system that played primarily man, but he has the ball skills and football IQ to do well as a zone defender as well. The big thing will be differentiating where his eyes are on a down-to-down basis based on the defensive call. Looking in the backfield while playing man is a recipe for disaster when playing against good route runners and speedy WRs.
Leonard Moore will not be sneaking up on anyone next year, as he has already established himself as one of the next big-time cornerbacks in the nation. With plenty of experience under his belt at the highest level, and another full off-season to train, I have no doubt Moore will pick up exactly where he left off, which is giving opposing quarterbacks fits. In the ever-changing landscape of college football, one thing that is sure to ring true again in 2025, is don't throw it in Leonard Moore's direction.
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