Riley Leonard 6’4” 216 Notre Dame

Trait Grades (Leonard) 

Arm Talent (B) Toughness (A) Anticipation (B-) Arm Strength (A-) 

Pocket Presence (B) Football IQ (B+) Ball Placement/Accuracy (B-) 

Intangibles/Off Field (A) Touch (B-) Delivery/Mechanics (B+) 

Running/Athleticism (A-) Throw on Run (B+)

Full Games Studied (Leonard) (2024) Northern Illinois, Virginia, Navy, Ohio State. (2023) Clemson. (2022) North Carolina, Kansas. 

Tape Analysis (Leonard)

An athletically gifted quarterback who plays the position with a good sense of timing & demonstrates NFL level velocity throwing out breaking routes. From a crude athletic standpoint, Leonard combines both explosion & aggression as a runner with a keen sense for getting north/south immediately, almost in a punishing yet nimble way. His ability to generate & maintain momentum throughout four quarters as a runner is rare & in doing so carried his team to wins throughout his college career while playing for both Duke & Notre Dame. As a passer, Leonard operates from a strong base & boasts a quick setup with little wasted motion to go with a semi-smooth & quick over the top delivery. Leonard was tasked with making sound pre-snap decisions on where to go with the ball & was somewhat judicious as a decision maker. His arm is live but his ball placement did not quite measure up across longer durations when precision was needed. 

A beat late, a bit behind or overshooting targets were all themes across his 2024 tape, however in going back to his 2022 tape, his level of comfort in this area was much better. Lack of accuracy obviously was not always the case, but there is a lack of precision from an overall accuracy standpoint. Leonard’s size, leadership ability, athleticism & functional knowledge for playing the position with a good internal clock mixed with just enough arm talent makes him a prime developmental quarterback target as we approach the 2025 NFL Draft. 

Projection (Leonard)

Expect Leonard to be selected in the 5th-6th Round of the 2025 NFL Draft. His skill set will garner this however, from a pure passing standpoint he will be considered a developmental prospect with an above average ceiling. I do not believe he will ever develop into a franchise starting quarterback but if he shows he can continually work to master the finer details of the position he could have a long career as a uniquely positioned NFL backup quarterback.