This week, Notre Dame added two new quarterbacks to its roster. One is new, and the other is old in theory. But with the addition of veteran Duke transfer Riley Leonard and extremely gifted incoming freshman CJ Carr, the Fighting Irish have a solid hold on their immediate and long-term future at the most crucial position on a football field. This week, Leonard and Carr signed their National Letters of Agreement, pledging their support for Marcus Freeman and the Irish. at the beginning of the early signing window. While Leonard is genuinely still practicing with his former team as the Blue Devils get set to take on Troy in this Saturday’s Birmingham Bowl, Carr is already on campus and practicing with Notre Dame as it gets ready for the Sun Bowl.
When asked about Leonard, Freeman exclaimed, “He is an incredible teammate.” “Although he isn’t even playing at the moment, he will remain with his Duke squad until their bowl game is over. Even though he knows he won’t be participating, he still wants to spend the rest of the season with those guys. That therefore says a great deal about his character. He improves the guys around him. These may be demonstrated by his decision-making as well as by his leadership behaviors. He is a wonderful young man, then. He’s a wonderful young man. Wonderful parents, yet a unique football player
In addition, Leonard plays football, and his skill set gives Notre Dame’s attack a new dimension beyond what it has had recently. The rising senior passed for 2,967 yards and 20 touchdowns in 13 games last season, completing 64% of his throws. He also ran for 699 yards and 13 yards on the ground. Leonard is a full-fledged quarterback, according to Freeman. First of all, he’s competitive. That shouldn’t be a word that’s just Alright, just tossed out there. How competitive you are, and you can tell by the way he plays, is something I really admire about you. The capacity to put his shoulder down and declare, “I’m not going to be denied,” in situations involving short yardage. However, in the passing game, he is capable of making every throw. “He’s accurate, but he can also stretch plays with his legs, and he can truly earn your respect by pulling the ball in certain zone read situations,” Freeman added. Thus, it creates a problem for the defenders. You are not only stating, “Hey, we’ll respond if the quarterback holds onto the ball.” A man, a defender, is required to cover the quarterback. So what does that accomplish? Because you have an additional defender attempting to stop the run with a quarterback, it opens things up in the throwing game. Thus, in my opinion, that is a crucial consideration when discussing transgressions. Being able to run the ball as a quarterback creates conflict and challenging circumstances for the defense.
Although Leonard’s output was lower this season, he missed five games due to toe and ankle problems. He rushed for 352 yards and four touchdowns while throwing for 1,102 yards and just three touchdowns. This season, in 58 attempts, he recorded the greatest yards per carry average of his career (6.1). If Leonard had been healthy for the entire 2022 season, Tyler Buchner might have surpassed his 699 yards of rushing in that year, but Sam Hartman, this year’s transfer quarterback, ran for 12 games, just 123 yards. With Buchner in charge, the Irish’s attack would have been different from what it was this season while Hartman was in charge. The offense they run this year with Hartman will probably look very different from the one they run with Leonard the next year. It raises the question of whether Leonard’s special blend of skills was a reason or an excuse for him to be recruited by Notre Dame to lead the Irish offense.
In response to the question, Freeman said, “We think he was the best quarterback in the portal. “I think it’s crucial to start with the greatest players and then figure out how to design the rest of the team around them. Therefore, we weren’t searching for a dual threat player or a pocket passer. We said, “Well, as we look to add another guy to this program—a quarterback—who’s the best fit for this place?” Yes, I have always said that. The most suitable candidate for this location, and then how to strategically center our offensive efforts around those men. Thus, I believe that Riley’s issue is more about that than anything else.
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