Leonard Moore’s breakout award buzz, has Notre Dame dreaming of a shutdown sophomore

There are many reasons that you could list as to why Notre Dame had such a successful season in 2024. Whether you want to say it was for different reasons on the offense, defense, or coaching staff, one young player that contributed to that success was cornerback Leonard Moore.

The former four-star recruit out of Round Rock, Texas made an immediate impact in South Bend and he is getting recognized for his hard work. Moore has been added to the 2025 Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List, which recognizes college football’s best defensive player in character and performance, according to the school’s website.

Leonard Moore rightfully deserves this recognition and honor for Notre Dame football

Last season, Moore blossomed and became a star player for the secondary for the Fighting Irish. He was 7th in total tackles, tied for the second-most interceptions (3), and led the team in pass breakups (11). Not too shabby for a freshman in one of the country's best programs across the land.

One of the best factors to consider about Moore is his impact he had in the playoffs. He wasn’t pushed around and he looked like he had been playing at this level for quite sometime.

Now it obviously helped that he had assistance from safety Xavier Watts who was a ballhawk himself (6 interceptions) and is now with the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL. However, Moore held his ground and should be strongly considered a shutdown corner going into 2025. If he was able to have this kind of production as a freshman, who knows what he is capable of now that he has a year under his belt.

Now of course, being added to a watch list is not anything to jump to conclusion about because it’s all about what you do on the field. However, putting Moore on this list just shows what kind of star Notre Dame football has in the making for 2025. He impressed early on which is very difficult to do. Now he will have to do it again for a second consecutive season.