The biggest question about Riley Leonard at this point of his career is his health. He knows it too and has since provided a resounding response about where he stands from that standpoint going into this upcoming season.
Leonard left no doubts about his injuries while speaking with the media at the Manning Passing Academy on Friday. He said his body feels great place and even as though he hadn’t ever suffered those injuries before.
“Healthy, healthy, healthy, healthy,” said Leonard per Shea Dixon. “I can’t stress that enough. Like, I’m very healthy.”
“If you were walking around in my body, you wouldn’t even know you had any injuries in the first place,” Leonard said.
Leonard arrives at Notre Dame after transferring following three seasons at Duke. While in Durham, he appeared in 27 games with several of those being starts in the last two season. However, he played in just seven for the Blue Devils last year after a right ankle injury as well as a left toe injury.
Leonard then underwent another ankle surgery that cost him time in spring practice with the Fighting Irish.
Again, one of the only concerns about Leonard as a player for this upcoming year is his availability. That shouldn’t be an issue for him going in, though, considering where he is at physically this offseason up in South Bend.
“Feeling good,” Leonard said. “There’s no limitations to anything workout-wise that I’m doing.”
“I feel good,” said Leonard.
Breaking down strengths, weaknesses of Riley Leonard
On3’s Andy Staples and Clark Brooks recently revealed what Leonard will bring to the Fighting Irish in 2024.
“He executes core concepts very, very well,” Brooks said. “While I might have some qualms with his ability to throw downfield and be a downfield producer? His processing power, his cerebral approach to the game is in a class of its own compared to this this current crop.
“When you bring in his healthy legs, that is an another dynamic that other people just cannot offer. At the time of his injury, he had the top yards per attempt among quarterbacks in the ACC. Consistently low drop back conversion sack ratio. Consistently low scheme elements—that he didn’t necessarily have a lot of ‘gimme’ completions that he leaned on.”
Brooks is confident Leonard will be able to avoid some of the issues that plagued him last season.
“When you’re looking at people at the next level, you can absolutely see why people like Mel Kiper Jr. are very high on him,” Brooks said. “Dealing from muddy pockets—he had to deal with that quite a lot and not being at 100% strength.
“You can you can kind of dismiss the stats some but still recognize he still has to have a little bit more potency. But, still, it’s just phenomenal how he can distribute in the short area of the field.”
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