I support Riley Leonard....
As an Irish fan since 1953 (Leahy's last year), I have lived through a lot of ups and downs following ND quarterbacks. While there have been many QB debates during that time, the one thing that distinguished successful ND coaches is finding and developing the right one. I have seen enough of Riley Leonard to believe he has the talent to improve his passing over the rest of the season. This situation reminds me somewhat of the Tony Rice situation in the 1980s. His first year in 1987, he was a very young QB who was a much better runner than passer. Lou developed him as a passer to the point that he was a real dual threat in 1988 and we all remember how that year ended. RL is a much more experienced QB coming to ND and has shown he is an effective runner. ND needs a mobile QB this year primarily because of the inexperience and inconsistency in its O-line; and, mobility is the universal quality of all successful QBs in today's football. I support Riley Leonard and developing him further as a passer because I think it is the best scenario for ND to succeed this year. In fact, I will be reserving my judgment about the offensive coaching effectiveness of the Freeman/Denbrock team based on the improvement I see in Leonard.
Replies to: I support Riley Leonard....
What I don't understand is why go to the portal for a QB that needs development.
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I agreed, Riley Leonard will be much better next year after further development.
Unfortunately, that doesn't help ND at all !!!!!
He will be a free agent at best. He is not a pro type QB
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Delete.
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I think he will be drafted because he is 6'4" or more, is mobile, tough and his passing improvement
can be made with proper development.
I'll wager that he won't be drafted. Free agent at best.
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He’s a mercenary, he was paid a million dollars to win a NC
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Anyone who thinks ND is still a NC caliber institution is living in the 1980s.
Just watch the best SEC teams play... we cannot attract that kind of talent.
The lure of NFL money (even for a short career) is a siren's song to 18 year olds AND their families.
Wasting their time earning a degree is the last thing on most of their minds.
Leonard seems like a decent guy and an interesting "college" talent.
I'm not sure he's at ND for the $.
I suspect he was just looking for a bigger challenge and more surrounding talent than he had at Duke.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIydvCBcilk
That statement is demonstrably false. ND has just as much capability to win a CFB NC as Michigan
Who have one exactly 1 consensus title and 2 total claimed in 70 years. Like ND, they have not played well in the playoffs or BCS bowls until last year, when they had to cheat to do it.
ND has either played in the BCS championship game or finished Top-4 to make playoffs 3 times in the past 15 years. They were clearly a cut below the eventual winners who beat them all three times, but those Clemson and Alabama teams also annihilated the teams they played in the final worse than they did ND. ND earned all three spots.
ND has outperformed and out-developed nearly every other program in the past 15 years not named Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Georgia. LSU is a Jekyll and Hyde. ND is right around Oklahoma and Oregon, and nobody would say they aren't NC institutions.
Long story short, Michigan sucks and they just won a title.
I live outside A2, went to U of M law and both my kids are Michigan grads.
My son played soccer for U of M and hung out with a lot of varsity athletes. Their academic “requirements” were/are pathetic. Moreover, last year was an anomaly and Michigan’s schedule was incredibly weak. Harbaugh also hit the lottery in NIL/portal transfers on defense. They will never repeat last years performance.
Yet Michigan won a title - ND can win too. Nice yet irrelevant personal and family history though
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I don't blame a player for leveraging the system. He doesn't make the rules.The system is messed up.
Thought experiment: an ND player making little NIL money is offered a $1,000,000 to transfer.
Should he do it?
It’s not RLs fault the system is like that. In this case blame our coaches for not
Having a solution to the QB problem in house
Agree about MF. He was mesmerized by and bought 2 shiny Portal rocks with near zero actual WAR.
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Hartman was a clear upgrade over Drew Pyne. I still think Riley nets wins over Angeli.
Angeli seems to throw better, but he held onto the ball way too long in relief this season. He also can't run like Riley. As much as I'd love an elite passer, I'd rather have a running QB with this MASH o-line and elite defense. He's been clean with ball except that awful 2nd interception at NIU, the 1st happens sometimes. We've played probably the 2 best defenses we will all season. If Riley doesn't grow as a passer, I could maybe see Freeman yanking him for Angeli, but it's more likely he'd cede the starting position through injury.
I was hoping to see better growth as a passer to this point, but we have to remember that Riley missed the entire spring and half of last season to injury. He's got a new team and a new offense. I'm optimistic we'll see a measurable improvement after the bye week. We should be clearly favored in every game through USC. He has a ~3000 passing season at Duke, for crying aloud.
Very much agree with you, but we may be proven wrong if more isn't shown down the road. If we are
right Leonard would give us the best chance against the big boys.
I totally agree. He’s a unicorn as a college QB
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Has anyone ever seen a Unicorn?
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Has anyone ever seen a Unicorn?
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Has anyone ever seen a Unicorn?
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Hopefully they get some Olinemen healthy in the bye.
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