Notre Dame Cornerback Leonard Moore Named Jim Thorpe Award Candidate By ESPN
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In back to back seasons, Notre Dame has been home to one of the best players in the country. In 2025, it was star running back Jeremiyah Love who was just selected as the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals. This season, it's star cornerback Leonard Moore who was named a Unanimous All-American in 2025 along with Love. Moore was the best returning cornerback in the nation last season and returns to South Bend in 2026 with that same title.
Last season, PFF ranked him as the No. 1 returning cornerback and the country and has done so again. All major outlets including PFF, CBS Sports, Athlon Sports, Sporting News, FOX Sports and ESPN have all mentioned the Texas native as one of Notre Dame's best returning players. Last week, ESPN released their list of candidates amongst their Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings for players they believe are the front runners to win notable awards in the season. They had Moore the lead candidate for the coveted Jim Thorpe Award.
"In addition to the Thorpe, Moore will have a chance to win the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which is the defensive equivalent of the Heisman, and the Chuck Bednarik Award, which is presented to the top defensive player," Heather Dinich of ESPN stated. "Moore started in 10 games last year and led the Irish with five interceptions, tied for sixth most in the country. He had 31 tackles, seven pass breakups and a forced fumble. He also had a 46-yard pick-six against Syracuse. Moore earned unanimous All-America honors last year and was one of the top Power 4 cornerbacks in coverage grade (92), according to Pro Football Focus."
The 6-2. 195-pound corner was a finalist for the Thorpe Award and the Bronko Nagurski Award after his 2025 campaign. Former Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts took home the Nagurski Award after his stellar 2023 season. Moore was the first finalist for the Thorpe Award from South Bend since Bobby Taylor in 1993; no Notre Dame corner has ever won the award, but Moore is definitely a preseason front-runner heading into 2026.
He finished the season with 31 total tackles, five interceptions which led the team, seven passes defended which was second on the team, a pick six, and a forced fumble. He remained a solid tackler in the secondary only missing six tackles the entire season and only allowed three receiving touchdowns all season long. Moore's performance this season played a major role in the defense's overall turnaround after the first three games.
Notre Dame finished the season No. 1 in the country in total interceptions (21) with their star, standout cornerback hauling in five of them. Moore continued to stack performance after performance and was named the Walter Camp FBS Defensive Player of the Week and the Jim Thorpe Award Defensive Back of the Week for his performance against Boise State where he finished with two interceptions, his career high.
The Texas native ranked 1st among all starting Power 4 cornerbacks in coverage grade (91.4) and 1st in overall defensive grades (90.9) according to PFF. Teams were well aware of Moore's abilities in coverage and was only targeted 11.5 percent of the coverage snaps he played.
Moore has the opportunity to be one of the best corners to come through South Bend, and that's to disparage the other tremendous cornerbacks that have come through the program. We knew Moore was going to be a star early in his freshman season. Now, as he prepares for his third, and likely final, season with the Irish, the best cornerback in the country has a chance to make history in the blue and gold.
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