Ex-Notre Dame football QB skips 40-yard dash, leans into legend of his speed

Former Notre Dame football quarterback Riley Leonard was as athletic of a player as Fighting Irish fans have seen at the position in some time. He was someone who could hurt a team with his arm, but more often than not, he hurt them with his leg as well. Usually the one-two punch was too much for opponents to overcome.

The signal-caller was an instrumental part of the Golden Domers’ running game last year, putting up over 900 yards on the ground and finding the end zone 17 times with his legs. Those numbers meant that his ability to hurt a team on the ground was well known. And it’s possible that’s why he decided not to run the 40-yard-dash at the Irish’s recent Pro Day.

Notre Dame football's Riley Leonard embraces dual-threat legacy as draft buzz builds

Leonard in fact told assembled media that he decided that the legend of his ability to hurt teams on the ground was enough that he didn’t want to assuage anyone: "Everyone thinks I'm really fast, so we're going to keep it that way."

Granted, most Notre Dame football fans would think of Leonard as more of a tough runner than a speedster. However, when really watching the tape on  Leonard his runs usually include an instant when it looks like he’s going to get dragged down from behind, and theyn he rockets away.

With the departure of Leonard, the Fighting Irish offense is going to look quite a bit different. Even if Kenny Minchey wins the starting spot, he likely won’t be running through defenders the way that Leonard does.

The former Notre Dame football quarterback wasn’t just good at carrying the ball in South Bend. While the 906 yards on the ground were a high, he also ran for nearly 700 yards in 2022 and amassed 2,130 rushing yards in his career.