There's no better sign that the college football season is just around the corner than the release of preseason award watch lists. On Tuesday evening, the Notre Dame football program received news that Leonard Moore, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, and Anthonie Knapp were named Walter Camp preseason All-Americans.
Moore and Knapp both made the first team, while Viliamu-Asa made the second team. While none of the choices were very surprising, it was yet another sign that the Irish are absolutely loaded, talent-wise. When you consider that CJ Carr didn't make the list but is still considered one of the best quarterbacks in the game, it tells fans what level of competition it takes to make the preseason teams.
Walter Camp is one of five outlets that determine consensus and unanimous All-American status at the end of the season, alongside the Sporting News, the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and the Associated Press (AP). It’s the first of the five to release its preseason All-American teams.
Notre Dame is tied for third with three preseason Walter Camp All-Americans. Texas has the most with five, Indiana and Oregon each have four, and Ohio State and Georgia are knotted with the Irish at three.
Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa joins Notre Dame football stars on Walter Camp teams
Of the three, Leonard Moore is the one most likely to take home plenty of hardware after the 2026 season. The defensive back has been considered one of the best at his position since his true-freshman season, and his legend has only continued to grow as his career has gone on.Â
Last year, Moore was targeted 48 times and allowed just 26 receptions (54.2% completion rate) for 201 yards, good for an absurdly low yards per attempt of 4.19. Opponents threw for a 45.9 passer rating. All of that was accomplished despite the CB missing a few games due to injury.
Knapp has been impressing everyone so far this year, looking positively dominant on the offensive line during spring practice. Like Moore, there are some NFL Mock Drafts that project Knapp to be selected in the first round, should he stay healthy and continue to look strong.
Viliamu-Asa finished second on the Irish with 7.5 tackles for loss, and despite potentially missing time this fall as he recovers from a torn ACL, his making the Walter Camp list shows just how many big things are expected of him. He, too, has made some 1st-round NFL Mock drafts, though the Notre Dame defender will need to come back strong from that knee injury and stay healthy the rest of the way to honor those prognostications.
Add us as a preferred source on Google