Biography
2015 (Senior): Appeared and started in all 12 games for the Panthers...Named game captain nine times (at UCF - 9/3; at Indiana - 9/12; at UMass - 10/3; UTEP - 10/10; at Middle Tennessee - 10/17; Old Dominion - 10/24; at Florida Atlantic - 10/31; Charlotte - 11/7; at Marshall - 11/14)...A First-Team All-Conference USA selection at cornerback and punt returner as well as an All-C-USA Honorable Mention honoree as a kick returner...Recorded a single-season best 62 total tackles (42 solo) this season good for second on the team...Tallied eight pass breakups (tied for the team lead) and one interception for nine passes defended...Registered 627 kick return yards on 29 attempts and 160 punt return yards on just 15 attempts...Average of 21.6 yards-per-return on kickoffs ranks No. 9 in the conference, while his 10.7 yards-per-punt return leads the league and ranks No. 24 nationally. His 627 yards on kick return yards and 160 yards on punt returns this season both rank No. 7 all-time at FIU...Finished career ranking No. 2 all-time in punt returns (37), punt return yardage (577), kick returns (86) and kick return yardage (2,158)...Notched five tackles (three solo) at Marshall (11/14)...Collected four tackles and two pass breakups versus WKU (11/21)...Had six tackles and 1.0 tackle for loss versus Charlotte (11/7)...Notched 98 yards on two returns (one kickoff, one punt) versus Old Dominion (10/24)...Recorded first interception of the season (40-yard return) and two pass breakups with five tackles at Middle Tennessee (10/17)...Also returned two kicks for 95 yards (47.5 yards-per-return) versus the Blue Raiders...Had seven tackles versus UTEP (10/10)...Totaled five tackles and one pass breakup at LA Tech (9/26)...Recorded nine tackles, including 1.0 tackle-for-loss at Indiana (9/12)...Tied a career-high in tackles (10) in season versus the Knights... Preseason C-USA Defensive Player of the Year...Named to the Preseason Jim Thorpe Award Watch List...Preseason First-Team, All-C-USA (Athlon and Phil Steele)...Earned first-team selection at cornerback and punt returner as well as a third-team honoree as a kick returner (Phil Steele) for the 2015 season.
2014 (Redshirt Junior): Appeared and started all 12 games for the Panthers...Named First-Team All-C-USA at cornerback and as a punt returner...Also earned All-C-USA Honorable Mention recognition as a kick returner...Named game captain eight times (8/30 vs. Bethune-Cookman; 9/6 vs. Wagner; 9/13 vs. Pittsburgh; 9/20 vs. Louisville; 10/11 at UTSA; 11/1 vs. Rice; 11/8 at Old Dominion; 11/22 at North Texas)...Was a two-time C-USA Defensive Player of the Week and a two-time C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week, becoming the first player in C-USA history to accomplish this feat...Recorded 40 tackles (32 solo), including 1.0 tackle for loss...Recorded a school-record five interceptions (No. 2 in C-USA; No. 18 nationally), including two for touchdowns...Also led the nation in fumble recoveries (4), including a 100-yard fumble recovery versus Florida Atlantic (10/2) – the first NCAA player to do so since 1999...Recorded 616 kick return yards on just 24 attempts and 309 punt return yards on just 13 returns. He averaged 25.7 yards-per-kick return and 23.8 yards-per-punt return, while setting the school record for most punt return yards in a season (309)...Broke the FIU single-game punt return record (148 vs. Bethune-Cookman) – also the third-most in C-USA history...Recorded first punt return for a touchdown with a 74-yards return (fifth-longest in school history) at North Texas (11/22)...Returned five kicks for 137 yards versus Middle Tennessee (11/15)...Registered five tackles and one pass breakup while recovering a fumble 15 yards at Old Dominion (11/8)...Also tallied 140 yards on six kick returns versus the Monarchs...Picked off fifth pass of the season for 13 yards versus Marshall (10/18)...Had four tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery at UTSA (10/11)...Forced a fumble and recovered another for a school-record 100 yards and a touchdown versus Florida Atlantic (10/2)... Also picked off a pass in the endzone versus the Owls...Notched a career-high two interceptions for 71 yards at UAB (9/27), including a 25-yard “pick six”; his second interception for a touchdown on the season...Registered 121 yards on four kick returns versus Louisville (9/20)...Tied a career-high in tackles (10) while forcing and recovering a fumble versus Pittsburgh (9/13)...Notched first interception of the season, good for 60 yards and a touchdown versus Wagner (9/6)...Began the season with a school-record 148 yards in punt returns, totaling 202 return yards (kick and punt) - third-most in school history - versus Bethune-Cookman (8/30)...Enters the 2015 season among the top five statistically in a number of career categories all-time at FIU, including interceptions (8 – tied for No. 3), interception return yards (236 – No. 3), pass breakups (20 – No. 6), fumble recoveries (5 – tied for No. 2), kick returns (57 – No. 3), kick return yards (1,518 – No. 3), punt returns (22 – No. 5), punt return yards (417 – No. 2) and punt returns for a touchdown (2 – tied for No. 1)...A mid-Season All-American (Phil Steele), earned All-C-USA recognition by Phil Steele and was honored by the College Football Performance Awards three times in 2014.
2013 (Junior): Did not play during the 2013 season…enters the 2014 season prominently listed in the school record book…33 kick returns for 902 yards, with both figures at No. 4 all-time at FIU…had nine punt returns for 108 yards…the nine punt returns are ninth-most and the 108 yards is seventh…1,102 total return yards comes in at No. 5 all-time.
2012 (Sophomore): Continued to excel at both cornerback and as a return specialist…appeared in all 12 games, while starting six at cornerback…named to the Postseason All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team as a return specialist from Phil Steele…twice honored by College Football Performance Awards as a National Returner of the Week…was National Punt Returner of the Week vs. Akron (9/8) and Kick Returner of the Week vs. Florida Atlantic (11/16)…also named the Sun Belt’s Kick Returner of the Week following the Florida Atlantic game…finished sixth on the team in tackles with 55, including 39 solo stops…also had one tackle for loss of two yards, seven pass break-ups and one fumble recovery…his seven pass break-ups were second on the team…led the team with 32 total returns, which tied for the fifth-most in a single season…had 26 kick returns for 758 yards, both figures were fourth-most in a single-season…29.15 kick return average was second-best in a single-season…six punt returns for 85 yards (14.2 avg.)…had two touchdowns off returns, one punt and one kickoff…twice during the season returned four kickoffs in one game…had four kickoff returns for 146 yards at Troy (10/20) and 168 yards at Florida Atlantic (11/16)…set a school-record with a 100-yard kick return for touchdown at Florida Atlantic mid-way through the third quarter that gave FIU the lead for good in the 34-24 win…had four punt returns for 66 yards vs. Akron (9/8), including a 49-yard punt return for touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter…the four punt returns tied for the second-most in a single game…began the season with a career-high 10 tackles at Duke (9/1)…had six tackles, including four solo, at UCF (9/15)…had six tackles, including five solo, vs. Arkansas State (10/4)…had nine tackles, including a season-best six solo stops, vs. Middle Tennessee (10/13)…finished the season with seven tackles, tying his season-high with six solo, vs. ULM (11/24).
2011 (Freshman): Appeared in all 13 games, while starting two...started in the season-opener vs. North Texas (9/1) and in the regular season finale at Middle Tennessee (11/26)...finished sixth on the team with 47 tackles, including 36 solo stops...had two tackles for loss for 12 yards, three interceptions for a team-high 92 yards, six pass break-ups and one forced fumble...his three interceptions in 12 games (.25 avg.) was tied for 70th nationally...had six tackles vs. Duke (10/1)...recorded five tackles vs. Florida Atlantic (11/12), as well as returning an interception for 56 yards...had seven tackles on the road at ULM (11/19) along with one interception...recorded a season-high eight tackles (all solo) in the win at Middle Tennessee (11/26)...had a 34-yard interception return vs. Marshall in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl (12/20)...forced his lone fumble vs. UCF (9/17)...had three punt returns on the season, two vs. UCF (9/17) and one at Arkansas State (10/18)...returned seven kickoffs for 144 yards.
Miami Killian: Committed to FIU on Sept. 30, 2009…rated three stars from Rivals…2010 Associated Press Class 6A All-State First Team...2010 Miami Herald Class 6A-4A All-Dade First Team…selected to play in the 2010 USA vs. The World All-Star Game...selected to play in the annual Miami-Dade vs. Broward All-Star Game…received Honorable Mention recognition at the Rivals.com U.S. Army National All-Combine Team in San Antonio...No. 89 on Bill Buchalter’s 2010 Florida Top 100...played for Steve Smith...also competed in basketball.
Personal: Parents - Raymond and Minerva Leonard...sister, Rayshawn...born Sept. 2, 1991...majoring in sports management...began playing football at age six...played youth football for the Richmond Giants...cousin, Jeremiah McKinnon, is an FIU teammate.
Career Highs (at FIU)
Tackles: 10, three times (last at UCF - Sept. 3, 2015)
TFL: 1.0 six times (last vs. Charlotte - Nov. 7, 2015)
Forced Fumbles: 1 three times (last at UTSA - Oct. 1, 2014)
Fumble Recoveries: 1 five times (last at Old Dominion - Nov. 8, 2014)
Longest Fumble Recovery: 100 vs. Florida Atlantic (Oct. 2, 2014)
Interceptions: 2 at UAB (Sept. 27, 2014)
Longest INT Return: 60 vs. Wagner (Sept. 6, 2014)
Pass Breakups: 4 vs. Florida Atlantic (Oct. 2, 2014)
Kick Returns: 6 at Old Dominion (Nov. 8, 2014)
Kick Return Yards: 168 at Florida Atlantic (Nov. 16, 2012)
Long Kick Return: 100 at Florida Atlantic (Nov. 16, 2012)
Punt Returns: 5 vs. Bethune-Cookman (Aug. 30, 2014)
Punt Return Yards: 148 vs. Bethune-Cookman (Aug. 30, 2014)
Long Punt Return: 74 at North Texas (Nov. 22, 2014)
All-Purpose Yards: 202 vs. Bethune-Cookman (Aug. 30, 2014)
