Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard out for winter workouts after ankle surgery

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard has been ruled out for winter workouts, Blue and Gold’s Tyler Horka reported. He underwent ankle surgery earlier this month.

Leonard’s suffered a high-ankle sprain last year while at Duke on the final play against Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish mounted a comeback. This latest surgery took place two weeks ago on the same ankle, and the expectation is he’ll be ready for spring ball, a school spokesperson told Blue and Gold.

When Leonard suffered the high ankle sprain during the season, the belief is he underwent a tightrope ankle surgery similar to the one Tua Tagovailoa had while at Alabama and that Brock Bowers had at Georgia this past season.

Leonard was Notre Dame’s biggest transfer portal addition this offseason, coming in as the heir apparent to Sam Hartman. The hope is he’s the focal point of the new-look offense, now run by coordinator Mike Denbrock after Gerad Parker left to take over as the head coach at Troy.

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.

Marcus Freeman: Notre Dame was looking for a ‘dual-threat guy’ in the transfer portal

After Notre Dame made Riley Leonard’s addition official, head coach Marcus Freeman called him the best quarterback in the portal in the eyes of the Fighting Irish staff. Bringing him in was part of the plan to land top transfers when adding through the portal, and he also saw a quarterback who fits in with the system with Leonard’s dual-threat ability.

“To me? You get the best players first. Then you say, ‘Okay, how do we tailor what we do around those guys?’” Freeman said. “That is so important.”

“We weren’t looking for a pocket-passer, we weren’t looking for a dual-threat guy. We were saying, as we look to take another guy, a quarterback to add to this program, who’s the best one that fits this place? I’ve always said that – the best one that fits this place. Then how do we tailor what we do offensively around those guys?”