Leonard Moore has not played a down of his junior season yet, but the Notre Dame cornerback already occupies a familiar place on early 2027 NFL draft boards, namely the top of the cornerback ratings.
The 6-foot-2, 197-pound Round Rock, Texas, native enters Sunday night’s season opener against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field as a consensus CB1 and a regular top-five or top-10 overall NFL draft prospect.
Moore’s first two seasons saw him play 26 games with 20 starts, 79 tackles, seven interceptions, 18 pass breakups, three forced fumbles and an interception-return touchdown. As a freshman, he stepped into a larger role after Benjamin Morrison’s injury. As a sophomore, he became a unanimous All-American despite missing two games.
Why Moore Sits Atop the CB Board
Early evaluators see Moore as the top cornerback available for the 2027 draft, with a first-round projection that will be tested by his 2026 tape. Scouting Grade ranks Moore fifth overall, assigning him a 95 grade, a Round 1 range and the label of a starting outside-corner candidate.
A 6-foot-2 frame, boundary-corner length and enough fluidity to stay connected through routes contributes to his ranking. What he does with that body is what separates a tall defensive back from a projected premium pick.
Moore has shown tight press coverage, an ability to close windows at the catch point and the ball skills to turn contested throws into incompletions or takeaways. Scouting Grade charted a 92.5 coverage grade, a 45.9 passer rating allowed and a 20.8 percent forced-incompletion rate across its 2025 sample.
The Notre Dame cornerback rates a No. 4 ranking on the consensus draft big board, as calculated by the Mock Draft Database, with NFL Trade Rumors rating Moore their No. 1 overall pick. The Athletic, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports and others rate the 20-year-old as the likely second pick in next year’s NFL draft.
Notre Dame opens the 2026 season at 7:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. PT, on NBC against Wisconsin. Moore’s sophomore season included five interceptions, including two against Boise State and a pick-six against Syracuse. The numbers entering the year are substantial. The 2026 schedule will determine whether they become a launchpad.
| NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH — 2026 SCHEDULE | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Opponent | Location | Kickoff (ET) | Network |
| Sun, Sep 6 | Wisconsin | Neutral Site | 7:30 PM | NBC |
| Sat, Sep 12 | Rice | South Bend, IN | 3:30 PM | NBC |
| Sat, Sep 19 | Michigan State | South Bend, IN | 7:30 PM | NBC |
| Sat, Sep 26 | @ Purdue | West Lafayette, IN | TBD | TBD |
| Sat, Oct 3 | @ North Carolina | Chapel Hill, NC | TBD | TBD |
| Sat, Oct 10 | Stanford | South Bend, IN | 3:30 PM | NBC |
| Sat, Oct 17 | @ #14 BYU | Provo, UT | TBD | TBD |
| Sat, Oct 31 | Navy | Neutral Site | 12:00 PM | TBD |
| Sat, Nov 7 | #7 Miami | South Bend, IN | 7:30 PM | NBC |
| Sat, Nov 14 | Boston College | South Bend, IN | 3:30 PM | NBC |
| Sat, Nov 21 | #19 SMU | South Bend, IN | 7:30 PM | NBC |
| Sat, Nov 28 | @ Syracuse | Syracuse, NY | TBD | TBD |
| Rankings per AP Poll. * Neutral-site games: Wisconsin (Sep 6) and Navy (Oct 31). Home games played at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN. Times shown in ET. | ||||
NIL Value, Texas Roots and Notre Dame Commitment
Moore’s father, Dr. Leonard N. Moore, is not simply a familiar name. The elder Moore is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the George Littlefield Professorship of American History and founded the College Football Research Project. His areas of specialty include modern African American history, Black urban history and the intersection of race and sport.
Academics were therefore never a throw-in during the younger Moore’s recruiting process. Notre Dame recruited him in January 2023, and he committed after an unofficial visit later that month before signing in December and enrolling in January 2024.
His father called the decision a “no-brainer,” citing Notre Dame’s combination of elite academics and high-level football.
Moore arrived as a three-star recruit, not a recruiting-industry inevitability. Notre Dame saw length, intelligence and production. Two seasons later, the projection has changed considerably.
On3 lists Moore at a $1.2 million estimated NIL valuation, updated Saturday, though a current public leaderboard placing him specifically among all defensive players was not available. On3’s NIL profile lists Moore as an enrolled Notre Dame cornerback with a “Superstar” brand-strength designation.
Notre Dame CB Leonard Moore: NFL Draft Projection, NIL Deal, Family Background