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

Te'o4Heisman

Te'o4Heisman

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irishff1014 said:
He did what he could to help us will last night, with that said I need to see a lot more. His accuracy is very concerning.
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He throws out routes very well and on time..cant wait to rewatch on TV when i get home but live I can only recall 1 or 2 throws there I thought he’d like to have that one back. A&M also had a ton of guys in the box and up near the line of scrimmage all night long. He did well getting the ball our quick and for the most part understanding where pressure would be coming from.
 
irishff1014

irishff1014

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Te'o4Heisman said:
He throws out routes very well and on time..cant wait to rewatch on TV when i get home but live I can only recall 1 or 2 throws there I thought he’d like to have that one back. A&M also had a ton of guys in the box and up near the line of scrimmage all night long. He did well getting the ball our quick and for the most part understanding where pressure would be coming from.
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His ability to get the ball out quick is also a huge part why we had 0 sacks. I will give you that. He worked his ass off to get out of a sack to miss a chip throw to I believe ford that would have been a TD.
 
stlnd01

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irishff1014 said:
His ability to get the ball out quick is also a huge part why we had 0 sacks. I will give you that. He worked his ass off to get out of a sack to miss a chip throw to I believe ford that would have been a TD.
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Yep. Most guys get sacked there. Not only did Leonard not get sacked but if he puts just a little more on that throw, Ford was gonna go a long way. Huge lane behind him.
 
Te'o4Heisman

Te'o4Heisman

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irishff1014 said:
His ability to get the ball out quick is also a huge part why we had 0 sacks. I will give you that. He worked his ass off to get out of a sack to miss a chip throw to I believe ford that would have been a TD.
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It was Ford. He needed to put more air under it but he was fighting for his life and likely didnt have time to scan the area to see he could just float it up. Just saw ford and tried to get him the ball. That woulda been a big one and reminded me of Hartmans shitty throw on the screen against OSU that woulda went to the house if he put some air under it, but instead was almost intercepted .
 
FWIrish4

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I expect him to get better. Tough situation where we couldn’t go under center to run any effective play action because of the noise. We didn’t really run play action at all because of all the pressure and I think he will excel at that. Add in Evans returning and we’ll see the passing game get better with the OL improving as time goes on. Leonard is already elite with pocket movement. I think he has a crazy high rate of sack avoidance, like near the top in the country over his career. It paid off last night.
 
irishandy

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He reminds of a kid in a candy store- he is always smiling, beaming with positivity, and having fun.

His stats last night weren't the best, but 0 turnovers.
 
Katzenboyer

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FWIrish4 said:
I expect him to get better. Tough situation where we couldn’t go under center to run any effective play action because of the noise. We didn’t really run play action at all because of all the pressure and I think he will excel at that. Add in Evans returning and we’ll see the passing game get better with the OL improving as time goes on. Leonard is already elite with pocket movement. I think he has a crazy high rate of sack avoidance, like near the top in the country over his career. It paid off last night.
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This is where I'm at.

I didn't necessarily love what I saw from Riley, but I did see enough to think that he can really improve once the schedule softens up. Get him those reps, have him get a better grasp of Denbrock's offense, and I think he'll be much improved by the end of the season.
 
Some Irish Bloke

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I'm not sure I agree at all with the people who said Riley didn't play well. I certainly don't agree with anyone actually knocking his performance as a negative.

First and most importantly, he didn't make a single detrimental mistake in a hostile environment that put us in a bad spot, which is paramount when your defense is standing on its head.

Secondly, 60% completion percentage, over 200 yards of total offense against a stout defense with the young OL, and not to mention a few miscommunications throughout the game with his WRs, who he is still building rapport with. We don't win that game without Riley Leonard and his dual threat capabilities, plain and simple. It wasn't perfect, and there's certainly room for improvement, but saying he "kind of sucked" or anything along those lines is outrageous.
 
Te'o4Heisman

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Some Irish Bloke said:
I'm not sure I agree at all with the people who said Riley didn't play well. I certainly don't agree with anyone actually knocking his performance as a negative.

First and most importantly, he didn't make a single detrimental mistake in a hostile environment that put us in a bad spot, which is paramount when your defense is standing on its head.

Secondly, 60% completion percentage, over 200 yards of total offense against a stout defense with the young OL, and not to mention a few miscommunications throughout the game with his WRs, who he is still building rapport with. We don't win that game without Riley Leonard and his dual threat capabilities, plain and simple. It wasn't perfect, and there's certainly room for improvement, but saying he "kind of sucked" or anything along those lines is outrageous.
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Agree. He did a great job keeping his composure, playing under control and not holding onto the ball or putting it in harms way. We definitely saw some impact of him missing spring ball. The receivers ran some wonky routes too. Love in the end zone on the slot fade is a touchdown if he flattens out like he is supposed to instead of inexplicably going vertical to the back of the endzone.
 
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ulukinatme

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Some Irish Bloke said:
I'm not sure I agree at all with the people who said Riley didn't play well. I certainly don't agree with anyone actually knocking his performance as a negative.

First and most importantly, he didn't make a single detrimental mistake in a hostile environment that put us in a bad spot, which is paramount when your defense is standing on its head.

Secondly, 60% completion percentage, over 200 yards of total offense against a stout defense with the young OL, and not to mention a few miscommunications throughout the game with his WRs, who he is still building rapport with. We don't win that game without Riley Leonard and his dual threat capabilities, plain and simple. It wasn't perfect, and there's certainly room for improvement, but saying he "kind of sucked" or anything along those lines is outrageous.
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Agree. it was a gutsy performance that may have been a bit conservative, but it was probably the right call given the environment and the OL situation. I'm hoping we have a more dynamic offense going forward, we'll need it if we get to the playoff and face a team like Georgia. Build the rapport with the receivers, keep the defense honest and that'll keep the running game available.
 
ThePiombino

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Some Irish Bloke said:
I'm not sure I agree at all with the people who said Riley didn't play well. I certainly don't agree with anyone actually knocking his performance as a negative.

First and most importantly, he didn't make a single detrimental mistake in a hostile environment that put us in a bad spot, which is paramount when your defense is standing on its head.

Secondly, 60% completion percentage, over 200 yards of total offense against a stout defense with the young OL, and not to mention a few miscommunications throughout the game with his WRs, who he is still building rapport with. We don't win that game without Riley Leonard and his dual threat capabilities, plain and simple. It wasn't perfect, and there's certainly room for improvement, but saying he "kind of sucked" or anything along those lines is outrageous.
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Yes he did. Thomas bailed him out tho, thankfully.
 
Te'o4Heisman

Te'o4Heisman

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FWIrish4 said:
No, Thomas is the sole reason the ball was even jeopardy. I may be biased as a former QB, but Thomas standing flat footed on a curl route from the wide side of the field is inexcusable from a veteran receiver.
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Bingo
 
Some Irish Bloke

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ThePiombino said:
Yes he did. Thomas bailed him out tho, thankfully.
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Really? Where were the turnovers? All I saw was him actually prevent two from happening on bad snaps, one of which he remained very poised and still picked up a chunk play.

Besides, sometimes in football, you take a 50/50 shot, like the nice pitch and catch to Collins on his back shoulder late in the game. And I agree with FWIrish that Thomas, who I am very high on, could've done a better job of coming back to the ball to aid Leonard.

He wasn't perfect, but he kept us in it.
 
dublinirish

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Also Nate Tice described Leonard's running style as akin to Woody from Toy Story movies lol
 
ThePiombino

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FWIrish4 said:
No, Thomas is the sole reason the ball was even jeopardy. I may be biased as a former QB, but Thomas standing flat footed on a curl route from the wide side of the field is inexcusable from a veteran receiver.
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The decision to throw that ball was the wrong one. Yes, Thomas should have done a better job of coming back to the ball, but he did enough to break it up. Shouldn't have been thrown in the 1st place. It was his only errant decision IMO, but it was errant.
 
Te'o4Heisman

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ThePiombino said:
The decision to throw that ball was the wrong one. Yes, Thomas should have done a better job of coming back to the ball, but he did enough to break it up. Shouldn't have been thrown in the 1st place. It was his only errant decision IMO, but it was errant.
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That IS the read on that play and is caught for 1st down yardage if Thomas does his job.
 
MrNimbus

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If he continues to struggle, (I'm very concerned about downfield passing) I'd love some tebow/leak action from the offense. Carr/leonard. Then use it as a selling point to duece.
 
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I keep reading about these concerns on downfield passing. The game plan was CLEARLY to keep the ball under control and limit the Texas A&M Defense from being able to execute it's strengths.

What were the strengths we heard about all off-season and the week leading to the game? First round picks on the Defensive Line. What can first round picks do well against a new offensive line? Rush the QB. What happens when you take a 5 or 7 step drop for a downfield route? Give the DL time to rush the QB.

Look at the highlight in the All-22 clips posted above at 1:14. This is the medium out route to the TE. There were 2 high safeties with underneath zone coverage in that clip and most (but not all) others. Deep throws were not happening there, but the offense took what the D was giving and it resulted in 23 points and 10 point margin of victory.

It seems like people are expecting the 50 point per game LSU offense right away - but need I remind them that wasn't the 2022 LSU offense and Jayden Daniels was not Heisman winning Jayden Daniels his first start.

The important thing is that RL was accurate. Take away some of the miscommunication in the first half with receivers breaking in while he was looking out. The throw in the 4th Q to Greathouse (0:42 in the clip) is accurate on the out route and he catches it in stride for an additional 4 yards. If he threw it behind him or had to dive for it there's a chance the ball could have ended up short of the sticks. The accuracy is the most important thing to take from this game, not the lack of downfield throws.
 
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