Sports

Leonard Moore vs Malachi Toney Could Be College Football's Best Matchup

By Connor O'Gara Sports Illustrated

At this time last year, Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore and Miami (FL) receiver Malachi Toney had a combined 10 career starts and one season of college football experience.



At this time, um, this year, Moore and Toney have every preseason accolade possible. Both are established All-Americans who could end up being the best player on a national championship team.



In other words, no it's not too early to look ahead to when they'll match up on Nov. 7 in what'll be the best individual matchup of the 2026 season.

Why Leonard Moore vs Malachi Toney Will Be Special

In 2025, a 17-year-old Toney had his coming-out-party against Notre Dame. He fittingly scored the first touchdown of Miami's runner-up season, though it's worth noting that Moore was draped all over Keelan Marion when that play unfolded.

That night, Toney lined up out of the slot on 45 of his 48 offensive snaps compared to just 9 slot coverage snaps for Moore, who was on the wrong end of that highlight-reel touchdown grab after a double move by CJ Daniels later that quarter.

That's worth mentioning because one might assume based on that showing that Toney and Moore won't see much of each other on Nov. 7. After all, Moore lined up at outside corner on 78% of his snaps while Toney lined up out of the slot on 79% of his snaps.

Dare I say, Marcus Freeman and the Irish will adjust as needed.



How do we know that? Take the USC game last year. Eventual-Biletnikoff Award winner Makai Lemon lined up out of the slot on 66% of his offensive snaps, including an 81% clip against the Irish. That explained why Moore covered the slot on 41 snaps.

Just for a little perspective on that, Moore only had 43 slot snaps the rest of the season. The adjustment was made. As a result, Lemon had his second-worst receiving day of the season (to that point) and USC was held 21 points under its season average in a 10-point Notre Dame victory.

Needless to say, Lincoln Riley's attempts to get Lemon going came up a bit short.

Maybe Moore won't shadow Toney, but it'd be fair to project plenty of 1-on-1 matchups

Moore is coming off a 2025 season in which he eventually showed he can cover the slot when needed. He allowed a 27.1 NFL QB rating on those 46 slot coverage snaps (the NFL QB rating for spiking the football is 39.6).

On the flip side, Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson added much more to Toney's offensive plate after that Sunday night against the Irish.

He might've only had an average depth of target of 6 yards - that was the lowest among all FBS players who reached 850 receiving yards - but he had 36 snaps out of the backfield (20 at QB, 16 at RB) and he developed into a complete player who could take over a game at a moment's notice.

Containing Toney, who figures to line up everywhere but left tackle (probably), will hardly just fall on Moore. We're talking about someone who led FBS in both catches and in yards after catch as a true freshman.



Of course, that task is more manageable for a defense if you have someone like Moore who can not only limit his air space before the catch, but also make the play after it.

One of the reasons why Moore is so decorated entering the 2026 season is because of his ability to limit to those YAC yards. Of his 201 yards allowed in coverage, only 97 came via YAC.



Ask former Indiana receiver Elijah Sarratt. A day trying to shake loose against No. 15 in blue and gold is no picnic.

Keep in mind, Sarratt only faced Moore when he was a true freshman in 2024. That's high praise.



Moore also got that praise from Jeremiah Smith, AKA the only receiver more decorated than Toney entering 2026. Much like Sarratt, Smith saw Moore when they were both freshmen playing for a national championship.

It's fair to say that both Moore and Toney project to be even better players than when they last shared a field. Nobody would be surprised if those two were even more decorated at season's end than they were throughout 2025.



Their matchup could have a massive say in who gets the last laugh when the Hurricanes come to South Bend.



Dare I say, it could even be the difference in making the College Football Playoff.



This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/notredame as Leonard Moore vs Malachi Toney Could Be College Football's Best Matchup.

Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 8:36 PM.

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