Greg McElroy details Riley Leonard health concerns at Notre Dame

Riley Leonard has some health concerns as he gets set for his 2024 campaign at Notre Dame. The Duke quarterback transfer had a tightrope procedure on his ankle following his injury last year.

ESPN’s Greg McElroy likes Notre Dame’s quarterback room even if Leonard can’t go right away or struggles to deal with the recovery. But still, Leonard’s transfer was one of the big moves of the offseason.

Not to mention Notre Dame banked on grad transfer Sam Hartman last year.

“I’m familiar enough with the tightrope procedure to know that it’s one of those strange surgeries not that dissimilar to Tommy John, where the injured body part actually comes back stronger than the naturally occurring ligaments,” McElroy said on his podcast. “His ankle, in theory, will be stronger prior to the injury taking place. That’s the beauty of the tightrope procedure and the only problem with the tightrope is that sometimes you can come back in three weeks. Other times it takes eight weeks (or more). 

“Tua Tagovailoa came back in like 17 days post-op and then last year at Georgia, their right tackle Amarius Mims underwent the tightrope procedure and was out eight weeks. So that’s the only thing that’s a bit challenging is just the timeline for you to get back. Now in the event in which Riley Leonard can’t go knock on wood, right? Knock on wood. I actually like their prospects behind them.” 

But make no mistake, Leonard is the guy and as long as he’s healthy, he probably gives the Fighting Irish their best version on offense.

“Right now, I’m not gonna sit here and pretend like this is a quarterback competition,” McElroy said. “I fully expect Riley Leonard to be the guy but in the event in which (Steve Angelli) is thrust into the lineup, I think he’s better than Drew Pyne, I think he’s better than some of the options that Notre Dame essentially went to in the past.”

Leonard arrived in South Bend as the No. 15 overall player and the No. 4-ranked quarterback from the 2024 portal cycle, according to the On3 Industry Transfer Rankings. In seven games at Duke in 2023, he threw for 1,102 yards and three touchdowns while adding 352 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

During a breakout 2022 season, though, Leonard put himself on the map. He threw for 2,967 yards and 20 touchdowns in the air and had 699 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground to help Duke to a 9-4 record in Year 1 under Mike Elko.