Former Notre Dame football quarterback Riley Leonard is hoping that an NFL team will take a flier on him and give him a shot to play on the next level. In one of the latest Mock Drafts, the gunslinger who can hurt people with his feet as well does get a shot. And he gets it with one fo those teams that are famous for taking chances.
PFF’s Jordan Plocher recently put together a “quaterback only” mock draft. He laid out where some of the top quarterbacks in will go in his latest projections. Unsurprisingly he doesn’t believe Leonard is going all that high, but he could land at a team looking for a young signal caller.
Ex-Notre Dame football quarterback stares at NFL shot in latest Mock
Plocher has the Las Vegas Raiders being the team that selects Leonard. The quarterback is set to be No. 68 pick in this particular mock. That would mean that the former Fighting Irish QB would go in the third round.
That would certainly be better for the former Notre Dame football player than some other mocks that don’t have him going until the 7th round. Plocher explained the pick as other QBs going much earlier and the Raiders needing to find someone young to be the understudy for Geno Smith, who they traded for this offseason.
“By selecting Riley Leonard in the third round, the Raiders get a young quarterback who can develop behind Smith while keeping their options open to take a first-round QB in 2026 or 2027 if needed.”
“Leonard is an accurate passer, ranking No. 5 in the draft class with a 78.2% adjusted completion percentage. He also brings experience, with 37 career starts, and is a talented and productive runner. Frequently utilized in the ground game, he earned a strong 82.8 rushing grade in 2024, an elite mark for a quarterback,” Plocher added about the Notre Dame football quarterback looking to succeed on the next level.