In his first year in South Bend at the University of Notre Dame, Riley Leonard put himself back on the map. He threw for nearly 2,900 yards, 21 TDs, and eight interceptions while also rumbling for 906 yards and a whopping 17 more scores on the ground. The Fighting Irish went 14-2 and ran all the way to the National Championship Game, where they fell to Ohio State.
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Along the way, Leonard proved his mettle. He earned Offensive MVP honors in both the Sugar Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs and the Orange Bowl against Penn State. It’s been quite the journey since he lost the starting QB job at Duke back in 2023, which led him to enter the transfer portal.
Now, with an NFL Draft selection likely on the horizon and interviews with Jon Gruden under his belt, the move has clearly paid off. That’s right: Leonard took a trip to Gruden’s film room at Barstool Sports recently, where the wily ex-coach put him through some mental drills.
When asked about his snap counts at both Duke and Notre Dame, Leonard’s detailed yet straightforward explanation of his system with the Blue Devils even left Gruden a little baffled.
“Duke was a little different. Girl names were on one, boy names were on two,” Leonard explained, clapping his hands to demonstrate. “Girl names also meant to the right, boy names meant to the left. So I’m here, right, nothing matters.”
He continued with a grin, clearly proud of the quirky system: “If I say ‘Ben, Ben, Go’ (claps twice slowly), it’s coming. I can be here (clapping), say I say ‘Amy’. (Claps repeatedly) ‘Amy, Amy, Go’, (single clap), first one.”
And Gruden, both amused and impressed, couldn’t hold back, “You gotta be kidding me, this is the greatest story I’ve ever heard in my life.”
Leonard also spoke about his snap counts from last season at Notre Dame. He uses a clap as his snap indicator and mentioned that he makes it a point to talk to the refs before every game about it. Those heads-up pregame conversations even led to a few calls going his and Notre Dame’s way.
“Gruden: What do you do if the defense comes out there and starts doing this? (claps repeatedly)
Leonard: I like to communicate with the refs before every game. If you’re just going on the clap and there’s no indicator, I make sure the refs know every game. So actually this game, I told the refs that, and one of the players did it right here, boom, threw the flag for me.
Gruden: Navy got a penalty because they were clapping!?
Leonard: Yes sir. (Smiles) Very illegal.”
Riley Leonard is coming into the NFL as part of the 2025 QB class, which is widely viewed to be one of the weakest in recent years. Depending on where you look, Leonard is ranked around No. 10 among that cohort. Not exactly encouraging.
Leonard was a menace as a dual threat in college, and while his running ability would be appreciated by many a team, his passing ability needs a lot of development.
Currently, he is projected to be a Day 3 pick in either the fourth or fifth round. That feels about right. At that stage of the draft, a team with a quarterback in place for 2025 can take him on as a developmental project, seeing what they can make of him for a relatively low price.
Depending on how things unfold, a team might reach for the 22-year-old star in the third round, though that seems unlikely at the moment.
