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Riley Leonard seen as ‘lock’ for Notre Dame football

By Oliver Vandervoort

Oct 28, 2023; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Duke Blue Devils quarterback Riley Leonard (13) looks to pass the ball against the Louisville Cardinals during the second half at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 28, 2023; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Duke Blue Devils quarterback Riley Leonard (13) looks to pass the ball against the Louisville Cardinals during the second half at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Notre Dame football’s reported top target at quarterback officially entered the transfer portal on Wednesday and he’s considered a lock for the Irish.

It’s almost time. The Sam Hartman era of Notre Dame football is almost over. The Riley Leonard era is almost here.

No, the Duke quarterback has not officially announced that he’s coming to South Bend, but the second domino fell on Wednesday afternoon when he did announce he’s officially entering the transfer portal.

There’s been rumbling for months that if Leonard decided to move on from the Blue Devils, the move he’d make would be to Notre Dame. Then his coach left first, taking a job with Texas A&M.

Mike Elko’s move to the SEC seemed to pave the way for Leonard to leave. It was just a matter of whether he might follow Elko to the Lonestar State or forge his own path. It took no time at all for recruiting analysts at 247Sports to proclaim the destination is not really a question.

Tom Loy delivered a Crystal Ball that not only predicts Duke’s quarterback is going to be a member of the Notre Dame football program, but his certainty level is at “lock.” It’s hard to describe just how certain that makes Loy’s prediction.

A survey of Crystal Ball picks across the 247Sports network will show that even when multiple people predict someone to be committing to a certain place, their certainty is usually given a 5 or a 6.

Notre Dame football appears to have their transfer quarterback locked down

One look no further than what just happened with the Nebraska Cornhuskers and their latest commit, an offensive lineman in Grant Brix. Last week, there was a flood of analysts predicting Brix was going to be a Husker. It was as close to a stone-cold lead pipe lock as possible. He committed to Nebraska on Tuesday night.

Still, the Crystal Balls were almost all 5s and 6s with one 7. Riley Leonard to the Fighting Irish is a 10.

With that level of certainty, it’s not unrealistic to think the Notre Dame football team will have its new quarterback by Friday morning.

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