Leonard Moore is the star of the Notre Dame secondary, but new addition DJ McKinney could be one of the more intriguing players on the Irish defense this season.
McKinney joined the team after playing for “Coach Prime” at Colorado and has been impressing more than a few people since he started showing what he can do. Considering how bad the Buffaloes have been during most of the Deion Sanders era, the newest Irish DB might have been hidden away a bit on the defensive side of the ball.
Notre Dame football DB DJ McKinney looks to rebound after injuries derailed his 2025 Colorado season
One reason McKinney might be coming out of nowhere is that he didn’t practice with Notre Dame this spring because he was still working on his degree at CU. However, he was on campus in South Bend, allowing him to watch and learn while his teammates worked through the game plans and began a depth chart fight.
In that regard, he’s very much a newcomer, but he’s reportedly learning quickly. In fact, McKinney has said he’s learned quickly and has learned quite a bit since being in South Bend and watching the program work.
“I learned so much my first week being at Notre Dame,” McKinney reportedly told the media last week. “My football IQ went up just being around guys like Lenny (Leonard Moore), how he watches film, how he diagnoses certain formations out on the field.”
It wasn’t that DJ McKinney was a total unknown or a massive underachiever at Colorado. He was named a preseason All-Big 12 selection in 2025, but injuries limited him during the season, including forcing him to miss the final three games. The injuries hurt his draft stock and convinced him he needed to play one more year in college. He knew he’d be able to drive his draft stock back up if he could succeed with the Fighting Irish.
His ability in the secondary is why The Athletic’s Antonio Morales believes McKinney is the most intriguing addition to Notre Dame. The analyst put together a list of the most intriguing additions to every Power 4 team. In other words, the DB is one of the 68 most intriguing players in the game among the major programs.
“The Fighting Irish return the best corner in the country, Leonard Moore,” Morales wrote. “But beefed up the position group with the addition of McKinney, who had a strong 2024 season at Colorado but was hampered by injury down the stretch in 2025. McKinney is joining an experienced, talented team that has its sights on a national title.”
McKinney is also intriguing because of how his commitment to ND went down. Reports said he’d committed to Marcus Freeman’s squad, but those reports were later rescinded. A few days later, the reports started again, this time with McKinney confirming he was headed to South Bend.
DJ McKinney hasn’t been guaranteed to be a starter for Notre Dame, but if he sees plenty of playing time, he’ll help his stock and help the Fighting Irish win more games.
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