Tag: Riley Leonard

Two former Blue Devils listed on CBS Sports’ top 100 college football players for 2024

CBS Sports released its top 100 college football players for the 2024 season on Monday, and while no current Blue Devils made the cut, two recent Duke players who transferred to Notre Dame appeared.

CBS Sports released its top 100 college football players ahead of the 2024 season, and while no Blue Devils made the cut, two former Duke players did.

Quarterback Riley Leonard and edge rusher R.J. Oben, who both left Durham for Notre Dame this offseason, appeared on the list. Oben came in first at 89th before Leonard at 98th.

Oben spent five seasons with the Blue Devils before he left to take his last year of eligibility in South Bend. He’s put up at least four sacks in each of the last three seasons, with 62 total tackles and 14 sacks across that time frame. His 27 pressures and 73.8 PFF pass-rush grade were the highest totals on the Duke team last season.

Leonard threw for 2,967 yards and 20 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2022, and he compiled 1,102 yards and three touchdowns during his junior year. After helping the Blue Devils win their first four games of the year, he suffered an ankle injury during a game against, coincidentally, the Fighting Irish in Week 5. He only threw 39 passes for the rest of the year.

The third-year quarterback still finished with a QBR of 72.2 for the 2023 season.

Notre Dame gets great news on Riley Leonard’s injury

This is very positive for Leonard

Although Notre Dame projected starting quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] went down with an injury earlier this spring, it doesn’t look like it’s holding him back.

The expectation was Leonard would miss the remainder of the spring. However, this practice video shared by Tyler Horka shows Leonard is already back on the field. It isn’t much, but he’s in pads, moving gingerly and throwing the ball with the other quarterbacks.

It’s unfortunate he suffered the injury with a new group of wide receivers he has to get timing down with. The obvious good news is Leonard looks ahead of schedule and will soon be back working with his teammates.

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Former Duke quarterback undergoes ankle surgery, Notre Dame coach reveals

Former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard will miss time during his first spring with Notre Dame after an ankle surgery, his new coach revealed on Saturday.

Former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard will miss a little time during his first practices with the Notre Dame team.

The new Fighting Irish quarterback, who spent the last three seasons with Duke before he transferred, underwent another surgery on his ankle, head coach Marcus Freeman revealed on Saturday.

Freeman did not specify how long Leonard would be on the sidelines, but he did not announce that the new quarterback was done for the spring, indicating his season should not be in any jeopardy.

During his three years at Duke, Leonard threw for 4,450 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He added 1,224 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground. His best season came as a sophomore in 2022 when he compiled 3,666 yards of total offense and 33 total touchdowns.

Leonard helped Duke win its first four games last season before he suffered an ankle injury against his new team, the Fighting Irish, in a ranked matchup in Durham.

Leonard only appeared in two more games for the Blue Devils after that ankle injury, trying to come back in the first half against Florida State before being taken out again.

Breaking News: Notre Dame Quarterback Possibly Out For Rest of Spring

Not what you want to hear…

Projected Notre Dame starting quarterback Riley Leonard is possibly done for the spring.  This comes after head coach Marcus Freeman announced that Leonard had another surgery to address the stress fracture in his foot.

Freeman made the announcement on Saturday following the surgery that was done on Friday stating that it was the same foot and ankle that had the procedure done on it earlier this year.  He added that Leonard could return to practice this spring in some capacity.

Notre Dame’s spring session ends on April 20 with the annual Blue-Gold Game at Notre Dame Stadium.

We will have more on this story at Fighting Irish Wire as it develops.

 

ESPN handicaps Notre Dame’s quarterback race heading into the spring

Leonard should win, but will he?

Notre Dame football will have a new starter at quarterback this fall, but who may seem like an obvious choice, Duke transfer [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag].

That might not be the case, especially considering how well [autotag]Steve Angeli[/autotag] performed in the Sun Bowl, throwing for 232 yards with 3 touchdowns, while leading the Irish offense to 40-points.

ESPN looked at some of the more intriguing spring quarterback derby’s (subscription required) and Notre Dame’s was one they looked at. Like many of us, they do think that Leonard will be the starter, but with a few caveats: health and leaning the Irish offense.

Adam Rittenberg does also leave the door open for Angeli, but “would need a significant push this spring,” to win the job.

Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

It will be very interesting to see what happens this spring, as the competition will be fierce along with CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey. Either way, Notre Dame has done a great job reloading the quarterback room and setting themselves up for the future.

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Projecting the five highest-rated Blue Devils in EA Sports’ College Football 25

With EA Sports College Football 25 on the horizon, here’s our ranking of who we think will be the five highest-rated Duke players in the game.

EA Sports has officially done it. They have successfully built the momentum for the latest installment in their beloved college football video game series. It’s been a long wait, but with the teaser trailer they dropped earlier in February and the confirmation early this week that every FBS team had opted in for the video game, it’s finally starting to feel real. The official reveal of the game will come in May.

According to ESPN, Thursday was also the first day that college football players could begin opting to participate in the video game. The report said players would receive $600 and a free game copy.With the momentum of this game hitting a fever pitch and the fact that we are getting closer to release, we decided to look at how Duke may look when the game is released.Without further ado, here’s a look at who we think will be the five highest-rated Blue Devils in the new game when it releases this summer.

Bad news for Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard ahead of spring practices

Not the best news for the Irish’s QB1

When Duke quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] decided to transfer to Notre Dame football, it viewed as a massive win for the Irish.

It still is a big win, but on Tuesday it was announced by Tyler Horka of On3 that Leonard had ankle surgery and will be out for the remainder of winter workouts. That isn’t the best news, as it seems like he will miss some if not all of spring practice.

This is extremely unfortunate for Notre Dame, as with many transfers, especially quarterbacks, they need time with their new teammates to develop chemistry. Looking on the bright side is that Leonard should be fully healed and ready to go when the real season starts.

Another aspect of looking at the glass half-full is that this will give the younger quarterbacks on the roster time to develop with the receivers if Leonard gets hurt during the season.

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Texas A&M football team favored for season opener versus Notre Dame

The official beginning of the Mike Elko era in Bryan-College Station is over seven months away but Texas A&M is already favored for its season opener at Kyle Field.

The official beginning of the Mike Elko era in Bryan-College Station is over seven months away but Texas A&M is already favored for its season opener at Kyle Field.

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Aggies have opened as 1.5-point favorites for their clash with Notre Dame on Aug. 31. The Fighting Irish will be led by senior quarterback Riley Leonard, who transferred to South Bend, Indiana on Dec. 12 after three years at Duke.

Leonard spent his last two seasons playing for Elko in Durham, North Carolina, which adds even more to the highly-anticipated kickoff to the 2024 campaign. The coach and signal-caller duo went 9-4 in 2022 which earned ACC Coach of the Year honors for Elko. The Blue Devils started the 2023 season 4-3, Leonard suffered a toe injury during a Week 8 loss at Louisville and he never played for Duke again.

With the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams this year, the much wider path to a national championship begins on the final day of August against Notre Dame.

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Notre Dame Football 2024 Outlook: Quarterbacks (1.0)

How does Notre Dame look at quarterback entering 2024?

Notre Dame finished the 2023 football season with three-straight wins to go 10-3, wrapping with a dominating 40-8 win over Oregon State in the Sun Bowl.

A dominating defense remains largely intact as the page now turns to 2024 but what about the offense?

We will go position-by-position this January breaking down what is lost and who returns for the Fighting Irish in 2024 – and what it all means for the season to come.

Today we look at the quarterbacks as the Irish have to replace one of the most experienced signal callers in the history of college football.  Let’s take an initial look at how the quarterback situation shapes up entering 2024 – obviously this is all possible to change at a moment’s notice given the modern day transfer portal workings.

Social media reacts to Jordan Faison touchdown reception

Good job, young man.

As the Sun Bowl goes on, it appears to be more academic for Notre Dame. While the offense has had more explosive games this year, it also is benefiting from a dominant defense that has kept Oregon State in check.

Sooner or later, another Irish touchdown was going to come. That’s just what happened when [autotag]Steve Angeli[/autotag] hit [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag] for a 13-yard touchdown on third down, giving the Irish a 24-0 lead:

Faison has had a couple of nice catches in this game, and it hopefully is serving as an omen for how Faison can contribute in 2024 and beyond. Whether it’s Angeli, [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] or someone else under center next season, Faison definitely has the tools to stand out among a receiving corps that is getting more talented every year.

We’ll see how Faison does in the future, but for now, let’s look at some of the reactions social media had to his touchdown: