How Riley Leonard has become 'a clear alpha' in Notre Dame's quarterback room

When former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard transfered to Notre Dame this offseason, the nationwide expectations were that he’d be the starting quarterback for the Fighting Irish for a highly anticipated 2024 season. But quarterbacks at every level are expected to compete and earn their starting spot during the offseason.

Leonard has established himself as the go to guy for Notre Dame so far this offseason and through the start of fall camp. With the Blue and Gold‘s Tyler Horka recently breaking down Leonard’s short tenure in South Bend at the On3 Roundtable.

“He’s a clear alpha in that room,” Horka 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.”

From junior Steve Angeli, to sophomore Kenny Minchey, and freshman CJ Carr, Notre Dame has a lot to be excited about at the quarterback position in the future. But in the present, the expectations have been set for Leonard to lead the Fighting Irish in their Week 1 matchup versus Texas A&M and beyond.

“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 explained. “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.”

Leonard not only joins Notre Dame with plenty of experience under his belt, but in tandem with new offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock. Who orchestrated the nation’s top offense at LSU last season that earned another dual threat quarterback, Jayden Daniels, a Heisman Trophy.

“If you were to just keep your eyes honed in on that quarterback room, you know who the leader of that group is. It’s Riley Leonard. The guy who started 21 games at Duke, accounted for over 3,600 yards in 2022, 33 total touchdowns in that season as well,” Horka said. “That’s the guy that Notre Dame thinks that they have, somebody that hopefully stays healthy, because that did not happen in 2023.”

“But when he is healthy, and he’s practicing, and he’s playing, he’s the best quarterback on this team. I think a lot of people believe that and he’s gonna have the chance to show it on August 31 in College Station and then in 11 games thereafter as well.”

There have been numerous reports this offseason about Leonard’s off the field intangibles, and his resume during his four seasons with the Blue Devils speaks for itself. Leaving the only thing remaining for Leonard to do is further establish himself as QB1 and help lead the Fighting Irish to a potentially groundbreaking season in 2024.