SOUTH BEND, Ind. — As tantalizing a tale as Notre Dame junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison unleashing a better version of himself on the college football world this fall is — working around spring shoulder surgery included — what might be coming after Morrison heads to the NFL as early as this spring seems even more so.
That is, a cornerback who might just be better during his Notre Dame than the one showing up on 2024 preseason All-America teams and 2025 NFL mock draft first-round projections.
And that’s according to Morrison himself.
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“This might be a stretch,” Morrison said after Thursday’s Irish practice, staged indoors because of a morning rainstorm. “But Leonard Moore will be better than I will be. Really. Here.”
That’s freshman Leonard Moore, a 6-1, 187-pound, June arrival from Round Rock, Texas.
And what made Morrison’s assessment all the more convincing about his protégé and summer roommate is that Irish senior wide receiver Jayden Thomas — who regularly works against Leonard in practice — said essentially the same thing.
“When you get a cornerback who has that length and the skill in the boundary, it’s unstoppable,” Thomas offered. “BMo is more physical, I would say, even though he doesn’t look physical. Leonard has the length, which is more than BMo. If he gets the feet right, it’s going to be scary.
“I think I was telling Beaux [Collins] and Deion [Colzie] that he’s going to be the truth. He’s raw right now. He hasn’t gotten with [defensive backs coach Mike] Mickens for three years, like BMo has. But once he has, I can see him being one of the best cornerbacks taken off the board.”
Morrison seems to be in that place — now.
“One hundred percent recovered” from his March 25 arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder, though he later muddled it a bit by talking about “following protocols.” And significantly improved from a mental standpoint — no muddling there — thanks to an offseason/post-surgery attitude adjustment.
“I’ve got to credit my uncle, Gill Byrd, who played in the NFL for many years, Chargers Hall of Fame,” Morrison said. “He really just transformed my mind a little bit, being able to grow as a DB, because I really thought this would be a setback for myself. But it wasn't. I think this propelled me. I know more now. I understand more.
“We would watch film four days out of the week for an hour, every single night. And that was the biggest thing — how can I learn from my mistakes? I watched every single rep I had last year, from the first game to the last bowl game vs. Oregon State, good and bad plays. And learning how I can become a better player through those plays.
“So, I mean, I've never been more confident than I am right now, because I'm seeing the game differently. I have two years on my belt, so I know I could play football. But how do I take this thing to the next level?”
And it never would have happened, he said, had the injury not occurred.
“I think that's why it's a blessing in disguise,” the Phoenix Brophy Prep product said. “I think things happen for a reason. God allows things to happen for a reason. And in the moment, I would be lying if I wasn't devastated, if I wasn't crying, calling my dad saying, ‘Why did this happen to me?’
“But looking back at it, the shoulder surgery has been the best thing for me. I realized what football was, and it's not everything that we make it to be. First and foremost, I'm a believer in Christ. That allowed me to get rooted back into that, like I kind of lost that a little bit throughout my sophomore year, but now I'm firmly grounded and just understanding who I am. And things happen on the field, but at the end of the day, I play for an audience of one.”
He’s also leaned on former Irish teammate and current L.A. Chargers rookie cornerback Cam Hart, who had multiple comebacks during his ND career from shoulder surgeries. Hart is one of the non-returning pieces from a 2023 Irish secondary that helped Notre Dame to its first national statistical title in pass-efficiency defense in school history.
“I still talk to him probably once a week, just asking him some small questions here and there,” Morrison said of Hart, a fifth-round draft pick in April. “And he was probably the best thing ever happened to me from a leadership role, seeing the way he went about his business.”
Morrison took care of business in 2022 as a freshman to the tune of six interceptions, one off the national lead in that category and enough to vault him to freshman All-America status. Last season, he collected three picks to go along with 31 tackles and a team-leading 10 pass breakups.
His 279 passing yards allowed for the season, per Pro Football Focus, works out to 21 yards a game.
And yet, Morrison felt there was plenty lacking in his game.
“Last year. I was preseason All-American,” he said. “I didn't receive any postseason accolades. So, for me, it's just the maturity, growth for me is to understand that last year I could have got caught up in that, but this year, understand that, like that stuff doesn't matter.
“Every single day you’ve got to earn your time. Nothing's ever given to you. So, once I got that mentality, man, I'm just trying to prove myself right every day.”
And being more vocal and bringing the rest of the defensive backs room along for the ride, Leonard Moore included.
“I let my play speak for itself, but understand that being vocal means getting to know my guys a little more,” he said. [QB] Riley [Leonard] said something that was really good on his senior talk. He was talking about how he wants to help this team in any way he can, and that's how I see a leader.
“It’s a dude who's just a servant of his men. That's all I'm trying to do, is to serve my guys and show them I'm here for them.”
And enjoy being healthy again, with the Aug. 31 opener at 20th-ranked Texas A&M roughly a little more than two weeks away for the No. 7 Irish.
“I'm not going to lie, I was crying outside the training room, because I was just devastated,” Morrison said of the March injury, four practices into spring football’s allotted 15. “I had so many things I wanted to do this offseason, from the standpoint of fixing my game on the field. But like I said, I was able to do things mentally that just was as benefiting as other things.”
Offered sophomore corner Christian Gray, who’s battling Jaden Mickey to start opposite Morrison in College Station, Texas at the end of the month, “He came back better than ever. … He’s really a dog. He’s really him.”
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