‘21 AL QB Riley Leonard (Duke Transfer - Notre Dame Verbal)

NDpendent

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Problem isnt RL. It is MF. Any remotely decent coach would have pulled him by now. Clearly whoever paid RLs NIL money is keeping MF under the thumb. No other explanation for it
I keep hearing people make this argument and it makes no sense. If you are dishing out that kind of money to ND football it's because you want them to win not because you care anything about the guy you helped bring in. If the guy you paid for isnt giving us the best chances of winning you should be on board with benching him.
 

stlnd01

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If he could have fixed the bad but easy throws he has a good game. If he doesn’t fumble in the long run he has a nice game. If they called more run plays for him he has a nice game. He made a few excellent throws while missing some easy ones. I think those were in the first half. He’s got to run more to exist in this offense.
How much more can he run though? He is an excellent runner, and that brings something important to our offense, but at some point we also need a viable passing game.
 

Ophiocordyceps

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Freeman looked liked he wanted to cry in the postgame presser. Poor body language on sideline during the game. Team not ready to play again, undisciplined players, & questionable coaching decisions. I think he heard the booing from 77,622 loud and clear.
 

T-Boone

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ND should pay Saban a few million to come up as a consultant for a month. Just hang around.
 

Irish2155

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Ward is the real deal. My guess is he didn’t have the grades for ND. That’s the only excuse
 

GoIrish41

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Played without confidence for a quarter and a half and when he found some mojo he played ok. If he can springboard off of that confidence boost from his 300-yard, three TD performance we may see an improved offense moving forward. He needs to stop playing to avoid screwing up and slinging the ball with purpose. Love what he brings with his legs.
 
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NDPhilly

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Personally have a longer leash with Riley than most because of what the offense can be if he’s confident as a passer with his legs. IMO Denbrock has done a tremendous job so far this year with catering the offense to Riley’s strengths, as there always seems to be guys open. It’s purely a confidence thing with him. As an Eagles fan, Jalen hurts doesn’t do a lot of things that are special passing the ball, but consistently hits the easy, open targets and makes winning plays with his legs. I thought quarters two through four were the most comfortable he looked all season as a passer so hopefully he’s able to build off of that against Louisville.

Regardless, Him playing the entirety of the NIU game was inexcusable as he’s just not a D1 starting quarterback when he’s not confident and can’t use his legs as an option to bail him out.
 

Luckylucci

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Ward is the real deal. My guess is he didn’t have the grades for ND. That’s the only excuse
I believe the money got crazy.

He was OSU’s top target initially and then they decided to not follow through on the bidding war. Or at least that’s how they made it seem.
 

WildMan1

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I’m sure Love, Price & the few good WRs we have enjoy a 3rd running back taking their carries from the wildcat..

Leonard is AT BEST a guy you have a package for.

We’re going to get trounced by Louisville if Marcus remains stubborn at this position.
 

InKellyWeTrust

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RL is a one read QB but he's not as terrible as you all are suggesting. Frustrating yes, but his running ability makes up for some of his inability as a passer. He probably just had his best game as an Irish QB and the complaints keep piling up. Lay an egg vs Louisville and get the 2nd L, then it's time to seriously consider moving on to a different QB.
 

TracyGraham

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RL is a one read QB but he's not as terrible as you all are suggesting. Frustrating yes, but his running ability makes up for some of his inability as a passer. He probably just had his best game as an Irish QB and the complaints keep piling up. Lay an egg vs Louisville and get the 2nd L, then it's time to seriously consider moving on to a different QB.
I think most want to prevent the L and salvage a season in which the rest of the team is very capable. What is the point of pulling him after another L? The season will already be lost. Wish I knew what the coaches point of view is for keeping Leonard in. Sure he is a good runner, but so are our running backs.
Furthermore, he is a 1 year mercenary. It's not like he is getting experience that will help for next year. Unless he improves drastically, he will either lose another game and we will miss the playoffs, or he will cause us to lose our playoff game. I can't imagine our backups, as d1 scholarship recipients, could be any worse at passing.
 
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Ophiocordyceps

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RL is a one read QB but he's not as terrible as you all are suggesting. Frustrating yes, but his running ability makes up for some of his inability as a passer. He probably just had his best game as an Irish QB and the complaints keep piling up. Lay an egg vs Louisville and get the 2nd L, then it's time to seriously consider moving on to a different QB.
Take a 2nd loss and you can forget about QB changes, the season is over.
 

NDRock

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RL is just Wimbush 2.0. The weird thing is I really liked Brandon and wanted to stick with him because he had a higher upside than Book. I don’t have that feeling with Leonard. Might be because I’ve seen this before but I think it’s because he’s a transfer and I don’t have the history with him like I did with Wimbush. It’s the downside of the transfer era. People seem way more frustrated with this guy than with underperforming QBs of the past.
 

InKellyWeTrust

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I think most want to prevent the L and salvage a season in which the rest of the team is very capable. What is the point of pulling him after another L? The season will already be lost. Wish I knew what the coaches point of view is for keeping Leonard in. Sure he is a good runner, but so are our running backs.
Furthermore, he is a 1 year mercenary. It's not like he is getting experience that will help for next year. Unless he improves drastically, he will either lose another game and we will miss the playoffs, or he will cause us to lose our playoff game. I can't imagine our backups, as d1 scholarship recipients, could be any worse at passing.
What evidence do we have that Angeli gives us a better chance to win? He may be a better passer, but how do you measure everything else? Idk these answers, but the coaching staff seem to think RL still gives us the best chance of winning games.

We may lose another game, may not. Everybody on the schedule is beatable. Freemans objective is playoffs and as long as that is still on the table, I doubt he benches RL.
 

irishff1014

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Personally have a longer leash with Riley than most because of what the offense can be if he’s confident as a passer with his legs. IMO Denbrock has done a tremendous job so far this year with catering the offense to Riley’s strengths, as there always seems to be guys open. It’s purely a confidence thing with him. As an Eagles fan, Jalen hurts doesn’t do a lot of things that are special passing the ball, but consistently hits the easy, open targets and makes winning plays with his legs. I thought quarters two through four were the most comfortable he looked all season as a passer so hopefully he’s able to build off of that against Louisville.

Regardless, Him playing the entirety of the NIU game was inexcusable as he’s just not a D1 starting quarterback when he’s not confident and can’t use his legs as an option to bail him out.

If in 4 games against Texas A&M, NIU, Purdue, and Miami of Ohio you as a Qb don’t have confidence then you never will. The offense at this is just not fun to watch at all.

Some of it has to do with his ankle surgery, which again is in the staff for a not finding out or the medical team not doing a good.

Wasted good NIL money imo on a QB that has 0 chance at being a star or moving on to the next level.
 

InKellyWeTrust

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If in 4 games against Texas A&M, NIU, Purdue, and Miami of Ohio you as a Qb don’t have confidence then you never will. The offense at this is just not fun to watch at all.

Some of it has to do with his ankle surgery, which again is in the staff for a not finding out or the medical team not doing a good.

Wasted good NIL money imo on a QB that has 0 chance at being a star or moving on to the next level.
Again the bar is low, but he looked more confident throwing yesterday. He was hitting most of the short throws and obviously threw the long TD. At least he's making decisions in the passing game now...that's something.
 

irishff1014

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What evidence do we have that Angeli gives us a better chance to win? He may be a better passer, but how do you measure everything else? Idk these answers, but the coaching staff seem to think RL still gives us the best chance of winning games.

We may lose another game, may not. Everybody on the schedule is beatable. Freemans objective is playoffs and as long as that is still on the table, I doubt he benches RL.

We have 2 great backs, at least 2 good receivers in Collins and Greathouse, a good over all tight end room, and an OC that is design plays that multiple guys are open. The one down fall is the o line they are ok but nothing special.

And I still say 11-1 with a loss to NIU that will not be undefeated we don’t get in and it mostly likely isn’t our only loss.
 
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