Notre Dame Lands Riley Leonard Via The Transfer Portal
It’s going to be back-to-back years now where Notre Dame snags their starting quarterback via the transfer portal. This past year, it was Sam Hartman, who won to some degree but probably not as much as Irish fans initially hoped for. This year it will be Riley Leonard who departed the Duke program a few weeks ago.
Irish Illustrated as part of the 247 Sports Network was the first to report the news. In their post, they list Jack Coan as another quarterback whom Notre Dame took out of the portal. My question is does that guy really count?
Leonard, 21, will now get a chance to improve his draft stock with Notre Dame. I question why Leonard would make this choice considering that Hartman’s draft stock dipped with the Irish. Gerad Parker, the OC, didn’t do a great job after getting the job this past year. Parker is the former tight end coach and appeared overwhelmed in his first year on the job. Why Leonard would trust that things will be different is a curious decision.
The former Duke product completed 58% of his throws for 1,102 yards, 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions a season ago. Of course, his 2022 season was much better. As a sophomore, Leonard notched a completion percentage of 64% to go along with 2,967 yards, 20 touchdowns, and six interceptions.
Maybe a bit surprising that Leonard didn’t follow his former coach to Texas A&M. Mike Elko took the job with the Aggies. It sure seems like they feel comfortable with Conner Weigman taking the reigns there.
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