The latest on Riley Leonard and the Notre Dame quarterback situation prior to Purdue
Navigating the Notre Dame quarterback situation as a beat writer this week has been like traversing a mine field. Be careful of what you ask or say. It could very well end up blowing up in your face.
Or, at the least, slightly scoffed at.
Per multiple reports, including ones from Blue & Gold and On3’s Pete Nakos, Notre Dame starter Riley Leonard has a posterior labrum injury in his non-throwing shoulder. It very may well have affected the way he played in going 20 of 32 for 163 yards with 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in Notre Dame’s 16-14 loss to NIU. He also ran 11 times for just 16 yards and a touchdown.
Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock didn’t appear to be a fan of questions related to Leonard’s health on Tuesday night. He brushed them off and stood up for his quarterback. Head coach Marcus Freeman did the same Thursday.
Freeman said Leonard has been practicing all week as normal.
“Nobody’s roles have changed,” Freeman said of the Irish quarterbacks. “Riley’s had a really good week of practice. He’s made some really good throws and done a really good job at decision making, taking care of the football. Everybody else has done a great job too in terms of what they’ve been asked to do, but nobody’s been asked to do anything differently this week than previously.”
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Blue & Gold asked Freeman later in the press conference what it would take for him to make a switch from Leonard to junior backup Steve Angeli. Specifically, are there any parameters that would tell him when it was time to go from option A to option B? Say, if Notre Dame was trailing 13-7 at halftime this week at Purdue just like it was last week at home hosting the Huskies?
“Um, “I don’t know if there is an exact parameter,” Freeman said sharply. “We have to have success. We have to move the ball. We got to score points. If we’re not able to do that, we got to make changes. But there was no consideration of changing Riley in that last game.”
If Notre Dame had a dozen eggs this offseason, the Irish put 11 of them in Leonard’s basket. It’s easy to see why the coaching staff is standing by the quarterback it created its entire 2024 offensive philosophy around. But if there’s another dud of an offensive outing — if success isn’t had, the ball isn’t moved and points aren’t scored — at least Freeman admitted a change would then need to be made.
