It’s the third transfer quarterback in four years that Notre Dame has signed. This time, it’s Duke’s Riley Leonard.
A experienced quarterback from the ACC will move to Notre Dame and will almost certainly be the starter in 2024. Riley Leonard from Duke will do what Sam Hartman did, he said Tuesday morning.
Leonard said he wanted to use the transfer portal at the end of November, five days before it actually opened. This led to a lot of online rumors that Leonard would join the Irish.
With Duke as his team’s starting for the last two years, Leonard completed 61.9 percent of his passes and averaged 7.3 yards per attempt.
Leonard has had a 63.5 percent completion percentage and 7.5 yards each pass attempt over the last two years, if you take out the games where he didn’t do well.
An ankle injury he got on the last snap for the Blue Devils against the Irish ended his 2023 season. He tried to play in two additional matches but was clearly limited.
Leonard isn’t a complete two-way threat, but his legs still scare defenders. In 18 healthy games over the past two seasons, he ran 150 times for 1,157 yards, an average of 7.7 yards per carry when sacks are taken into account.
Even though Leonard, who is 6 feet 4 inches tall, averages 64.3 running yards per game, he would rather look downfield before he runs.
It should be easier for Leonard to get used to South Bend because Mike Elko, the new head coach at Texas A&M and former defensive coordinator for the Irish, ran a more traditional offense compared with Hartman did at Wake Forest. Elko will be Leonard’s first opponent in 2024.
However, getting the whole Notre Dame offense to work together could be a bit more tough. When Alt joins Fisher, the Irish offensive line will find itself completely in a different area. This should last until the 2024 season.
Kris Mitchell from Florida International and Beaux Collins from Clemson are two well-known receivers that the Irish have signed.
They are looking for a third, and if All-American left tackle Joe Alt decides to enter the NFL draft early, they will have to replace up to three players on the offensive line.
In the Sun Bowl on Dec. 29, Notre Dame will play No. 19 Oregon State and see some of its new offensive linemen for the first time.
Center Zeke Correll has already moved to North Carolina State, while right tackle Blake Fisher has declared for the NFL draft.
If nothing changes with the Irish quarterback backup chart, Kenny Minchey, a freshman, and CJ Carr, a recruit who is set to sign his National Letter for Intent this month, are going to join Angeli.
It is expected that after Leonard’s season, Notre Dame would no longer be looking for quarterbacks on the transfer market.
They would have a chain of quarterbacks all coming from the same year, which is something they were missing when Marcus Freeman took in the program in 2022.
Riley Leonard wrote a sweet and moving post on social media about how grateful and excited he was to wear the famous Notre Dame jersey. He called the chance to do so a “dream come true.”
He ended his speech with a loud and emotional “Go Irish,” which echoed the excitement of many fans who couldn’t wait for his start with the gold and blue.
The fans of Notre Dame are holding their breath as they wait for Riley Leonard to take charge of the Fighting Irish’s offense.
The Fighting Irish’s offense, which had times of pure brilliance amid challenges in crucial situations throughout the 2023 season, is now led by a quarterback whose arrival could be a sign of a renaissance.
The Fighting Irish finished the previous season with a respectable 9-3 record in the regular season, led by Coach Marcus Freeman, who is now in his second year and has a lot of experience. This set them up for continued growth and success.