Notre Dame Football: Rave reviews for Irish quarterback room

The best moments of the offseason

welcome to Notre Dame Fighting IrishPositional Hot Takes. As a reminder to all readers, this is HIGHLY driven by you and comments are highly encouraged. The idea here is to only bring your HOT takes since this is the off season. The result will be much longer, but these pages will live on in perpetuity (big word) so you can tell your friends, family, and strangers that you “called”. Since this is not focused on specific games, I’m going to go position by position with my own takes.

Strategist

Photo by Kirby Lee/Getty Images

Is this the best, most capable quarterback room Notre Dame has had in…ever? I think the answer is yes when you think about how all 4 quarterbacks on the roster could lead this team to a win. They could lead them to victory not just by passing the ball like Drew Pyne did in 2021, but by making big throws. This is very unique for Notre Dame, but for all of college football, because top-tier quarterbacks just don’t stick around. It speaks to the culture Gino Guidulgi has instilled in his room, but also shows how every guy thinks he’s the “next man in.” They’re also very aware that Riley Leonard runs a lot and could miss time at any moment. Heading into camp, Steve Angeli is a lock, but that doesn’t mean others couldn’t get past him.

Hot take 1

Riley Leonard finishes in top 8 for Heisman Trophy

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Leonard is the best dual-threat quarterback the Irish have had since Deshone Kizer in 2015… and fortunately for him, they’ll share an offensive coordinator in Mike Denbrock. (Ian Book had better production but wasn’t the passer that Kizer was in 2015.) Leonard will have a chance to put up some very good numbers, especially with the talented cast around him. The biggest question mark is whether the offensive line can hold up… but if it can, it should flourish for a few reasons:

1. WR Talent and Depth
2. Elite dual-threat back (Love) and an RB1 behind him (Price)
3. Elite #1 TE + depth with high potential
4. Play call adapted to his strengths

One of the key pieces here is Denbrock, who just called plays for the best dual-threat QB in the country. Denbrock likes what he has in Leonard and will be very creative with RPOs, multiple back sets, motion, etc. That creativity should lead to a lot of running and throwing opportunities. My gut, from a numbers standpoint, could have him totaling 3,500+ yards passing, 600+ yards rushing, and 35-40 TDs. On top of that, if ND is undefeated or a one-loss team, he will have the hype and fanfare to lead a campaign. Leonard has the looks, the talent, the talent around him, and the opportunity to live up to the first-round hype he had heading into 2023. Let’s also not forget that he is a true “gamer” in every sense of the word. Hell, he was 4th and 16 behind Sam Hartman to topple the Irish a year ago.

Hot take 2

Every QB on the roster has thrown a touchdown this year

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

With the talent on the roster, the coaches will want to see what they have in each of these guys when the balls are flying. They won’t want to keep Leonard in games too long with the risk of injury. Finally, ideally, this will be one of the longest seasons in Notre Dame history (if they win a playoff game), so they’ll want to be even more careful with Leonard. The extra time will allow the backups to show what they can do instead of just handing the ball off…and they also have the backup WRs to do some serious damage. Another key point is that Denbrock knows he’ll have to keep these guys engaged as well. In the NIL era, keeping players happy is of the utmost importance, and the way to do that is to seize the opportunity. Each of these guys will take advantage and reach for the spoils at least once this year.

Your Reviews: Please leave your reviews below and I will revisit them next offseason (long game friends). GO IRISH!