Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard hype train shows up in Heisman odds
One of the interesting things about the early part of the Riley Leonard saga with Notre Dame football is that the hype surrounding the former Duke Blue Devil has had some severe ebbs and flows. When talk began about him coming to South Bend, there was quite a bit of excitement. These days, it feels like there's a decent segment of analysts and fans, both of whom are more excited to see what his backups could do if they were given the chance.
Love it or hate it, one of the most telling indicators of a quarterback's "hype" is the status of their Heisman odds. And when we delve into those odds, it becomes clear that Vegas holds a strong belief in Riley Leonard's potential to be one of the most impactful quarterbacks for the Notre Dame football team.
According to DraftKings Sportsbook Leonard's odds for winning the Heisman currently sit at +3000 or 30-to-1. That means that the Notre Dame football quarterback (who everyone hopes can stay healthy for the whole season) isn't a front runner, but also isn't in the back of the pack.
The front runners in the Heisman race according to Vegas are Quinn Ewers from Texas and Carson Beck from Georgia. Both players are +900 with Oregon's Dillon Gabriel just behind them at +1000.
Alabama's Jalen Milroe is +1400, Ohio State's Will Howard is +1500, Ole Miss's Jaxson Dart is +1800 and then we start to get into situations where "the rest of the pack" are all bunched together.
Notre Dame football quarterback has decent odds at Heisman win
Among the notable quarterbacks that Riley Leonard is given a better chance of winning a Heisman thant is none other than Shedeur Sanders, who currently sits at 35-to-1 odds for winning the trophy in his final season of college football.
Jalon Daniels of Kansas and Cam Rising of Utah are two other quarterbacks with the same odds as Sanders, just behind Leonard.
None of these numbers mean a whole lot in May. It really is just a hype guage. But Notre Dame football fans should be at least encouraged that there is still a decent level of hype for a Riley Leonard that still hasn't been able to do much for the Fighting Irish yet.