He’s the best
College football watch list season continues with the Jim Thorpe Award. On Wednesday, Notre Dame announced that Irish cornerback Leonard Moore is on this year’s watch list.
From the ND press release:
Moore Named to Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Watch List
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Sophomore cornerback Leonard Moore has been named to the 2025 Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Watch List, an award given annually to the best defensive back in college football based on performance on the field, athletic ability and character.
Moore enters his true sophomore season already named to the watch lists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy and the Nagurski Trophy, as well as to the Walter Camp Preseason All-America First Team. As a true freshman in 2024, he was named the FWAA Freshman Defensive Player of the Year and selected to the Freshman All-America teams for FWAA, ESPN, The Athletic (First Team), Pro Football Focus, the College Football Network and the 247Sports True Freshman All-America Team.
In 2024, Moore started 10 games and totaled 48 tackles with two interceptions, 2.0 TFL, 10 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a quarterback hurry. In the first two starts of his career, he totaled seven tackles in each.
He made his mark in several games for the Irish en route to wins in the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl and an appearance in the 2025 CFP National Title game. In the regular season finale at USC, he recorded five pass breakups, tied for the second-most in a single game by any FBS player in 2024, and the only freshman in the country to achieve the feat last season.
In his first-career start vs. Louisville, Moore led the entire defense with seven tackles and forced a fumble that resulted in a Notre Dame touchdown drive. He followed it up with another seven-tackle performance, adding a tackle for a loss of 16 yards and two pass breakups at Georgia Tech. He compiled two-consecutive stops to force a turnover on the last drive of the first half, cementing an Irish lead.