Quarterback Riley Leonard was named the starting quarterback for the past two seasons at Duke, but a very intriguing option opened up this past season at one of the top football schools in the country: Notre Dame.
Leonard transferred to Notre Dame with hopes of being the starter in his final year of college eligibility, and though the Fighting Irish have been having an “open” competition at the position, reports out of Irish camp are all favoring Leonard.
“He’s a clear alpha in that room,” On3’s Notre Dame insider Tyler Horka recently said. “And that’s another room, I mentioned the Notre Dame wide receivers feeling like they’re in a better spot than they’ve been in the last handful of years … You got a really, really talented good quarterback room, but Riley Leonard feels like the alpha in that room.”
Leonard is competing with junior Steve Angeli, sophomore Kenny Minchey and freshman CJ Carr, but it sounds like this is more than his job to lose.
There’s also the added bonus that the Irish play Texas A&M in Week 1, meaning that Leonard’s old head coach will be on the other sideline. Who else would be better equipped to play against Elko than his former quarterback?
“Marcus Freeman said it best in his press conference. He didn’t outright name Riley Leonard the starting quarterback, which I think we all know it’s probably a foregone conclusion that when the Irish go into College Station and have to play in front of 102,000 screaming Texas A&M Aggie fans, it’s gonna be Riley Leonard who leads the Irish out there,” Horka continued. “And that’s just the vibe that you get from the practices, and Freeman said that Leonard is running with the ones and Angeli’s running with the twos. That’s what everybody expected and you’ve kind of seen that.”
There are still a few weeks for this to change, but Leonard is the starter for Notre Dame for all intents and purposes. Aug. 31 is coming up quickly.