Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard to miss most winter workouts after surgery on injured ankle
New Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard’s one year in South Bend is off to a shaky start. The former Duke signal-caller had ankle surgery earlier this month, according to Blue & Gold sources.
Leonard had the operation on the same ankle he injured in the final minute of a 21-14 Duke loss to Notre Dame last fall. He underwent the successful procedure roughly two weeks ago after team trainers and doctors determined his ankle needed to be restored from prior affliction.
Per a Notre Dame spokesperson, Leonard is expected to be back for the beginning of spring practices in March. The university has not yet released an official start date.
It’s believed to have been a similar surgery — tightrope fixation — to the one performed on former Alabama quarterback and current Miami Dolphins starter Tua Tagovailoa in 2018. Tagovailoa played for the Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff four weeks later.
Following that timeline, the best-case scenario for Leonard is a return to football activities sometime in February. There is not a national championship in Notre Dame’s immediate future like there was for Tagovailoa and Alabama, though. A more realistic return to full activity for Leonard is the start of spring practices in mid- to late-March.
If there was ever a time for Notre Dame’s prized transfer portal addition to suffer such an injury, it’d be now — especially if he does heal in time for actual practices. But even if he doesn’t, the silver lining for Notre Dame is a funneling of No. 1 reps to junior Steve Angeli and more action for sophomore Kenny Minchey and freshman CJ Carr.
Leonard has the experience and upside to edge Angeli in a quarterback competition, but the latter could make things interesting with more opportunities to prove himself. He’s coming off a strong outing in his first career start in the Sun Bowl, a 40-8 victory for Notre Dame. Angeli went 15-of-19 for 232 yards with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
Leonard held a record of 13-8 as a starter at Duke. His best year was 2022 when he threw for 2,967 yards with 20 touchdowns and 6 interceptions and ran for 699 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Then the injury bug hit.
The high ankle sprain Leonard endured against Notre Dame last year affected the rest of his season. He only started two more games thereafter and was re-injured against Florida State, which was his first start back exactly three weeks after the initial injury against the Irish. He officially shut down his season after a turf toe ailment suffered against Louisville on Oct. 28 called for surgery.
Leonard threw for 1,102 yards with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions and ran for 352 yards and 4 more scores in seven injury-riddled starts in 2023.
Leonard has a big frame at 6-4, 213 pounds, but he puts himself in harm’s way more often than the average passer because of his running ability. With athletic upside comes risk. If he beats out Angeli and wins Notre Dame’s starting job, as expected, his health is paramount to individual and team success in 2024.
