2025 NFL Draft Quarterback Scouting Report - Riley Leonard, Notre Dame
Hey all,
Back with another edition of my 2025 NFL Draft QB Scouting Series! This week, I’ll be covering Notre Dame quarterback, Riley Leonard. I have the full written eval below. If you want to check out the YouTube video for Leonard, you can check it out with the link below:
Riley Leonard, Notre Dame
Height: 6’3”; Weight: 210 pounds
Age on Draft Day: 22 years and 7 months
Class: Senior
Overall Grade: 2.46/4 (Needs Improvement to Contribute)
2024 Stats:
Passing: 269/403 (66.7%); 2861 yards; 21 TDs; 8 INTs
Rushing: 184 carries; 906 yards; 17 TDs; 2 Fumbles
2024 Games Charted: Georgia Tech, Georgia, Penn State, Ohio State
Totals from Games Charted:
Short Throw Accuracy on Platform: 42/56 (75%)
Short Throw Accuracy off Platform: 31/40 (77.5%)
Medium Throw Accuracy on Platform: 31/44 (70.45%)
Medium Throw Accuracy off Platform: 11/16 (68.75%)
Intermediate Throw Accuracy on Platform: 17/32 (53.13%)
Intermediate Accuracy off Platform: 4/4 (100%)
Deep Throw Accuracy on Platform: 1/4 (25)
Deep Throw Accuracy off Platform: N/A
Left Side of Field Accuracy: 54/76 (71.05%)
Middle of Field Accuracy: 31/46 (67.39%)
Right Side of Field Accuracy: 52/74 (70.27%)
Total Accuracy: 137/196 (69.9%)
On Platform, Way Off Target Throws (Vertical/Horizontal): 7/3 (1.75/0.75 per game)
Off Platform, Way Off Target Throws (Vertical/Horizontal): 0/1 (0/0.25 per game)
Sacks/Fumbles: 6/0 (1.5/0 per game)
Deflections/Pass Interference: 6/2 (1.5/0.5 per game)
Throwaways/INTs/Dropped INTs: 5/3/1 (1.25/0.75/0.25 per game)
Drops: 3 (0.75 per game)
Designed Runs/Scrambles: 44/10 (11/2.5 per game)
Success vs Blitz: 18/34 (52.94%)
Success vs Pressure: 34/66 (51.52%)
Footwork: D-
Pocket Presence: C+
“Playmaking”: C+
Short Throw Accuracy: B+
Medium Throw Accuracy: B+
Intermediate Throw Accuracy: C+
Deep Throw Accuracy: D
Throw on the Run: A
Success Against Pressure/Blitz: B-
Arm Strength: B+
Release: C+
Ball Security: B-
Top Starter Potential: C-
Final Strengths:
Willing to play within his limits
Arm Strength
Mobility and toughness
Pocket management skills
Accuracy on the move
Areas of Improvement:
Processing
Release
Consistency
Footwork
Accuracy past the sticks
Comp: Tim Tebow
After transferring to Notre Dame and helping his team make it to the national championship game, Riley Leonard put himself on the map. While his passing work didn’t quite get that much attention, for good reason as we’ll get into later, his rushing ability and toughness impressed a lot of people. He has serious wheels to outrun defenders and combines this with really impressive vision to help maximize his rushes. Also, he has a good build to withstand hits and has a bit of shiftiness to at least avoid head-on hits and minimize the damage. He also has some really great arm strength and talent even if he doesn’t get the chance to show it often. Similar to Jalen Milroe, Leonard has the mold of a quarterback NFL teams want with his arm, build, and legs. Despite that ceiling, he also showed a better understanding of his limits this season. At Duke, he’d often try to do too much which led to far more way off throws. This season, he definitely had his moments but typically swallowed his ego and did what was best for the team. He also showed he was a team-first player by taking extra hits on the ground to pick up extra yards, making throws through hard hits, and always pushing to go back into games even when he seemed injured. Also, it’s just a simple gesture, but after a long postseason and losing in the national championship game, Riley Leonard could have absolutely decided not to follow through on his senior bowl invite and use the time to prepare for the combine. However, he not only still attended the senior bowl but was a full participant. That work ethic and willingness to follow through will really stand out to some teams. As for how he actually performs on the field, there is definitely a lot of work that needs to be done but despite his rawness as a passer, he shows some decent feel in the pocket and knows when to step up and typically does a good job getting the ball out before pressure gets home. Also, he didn’t have a high number of them due to few passing attempts, but he did a good job being willing to take throwaways this year and live another down. Also, while some rushing quarterbacks have a tendency to trail or circle out of pressure, Leonard typically does a good job keeping his momentum forward and knows how to use his athleticism to extend his time. While on the move, he isn’t always able to drive the ball down the field but he does have some solid accuracy despite the messy footwork. His release is a bit disappointing but he is capable of throwing at diverse arm angles and doesn’t have too much pullback or dip in his release. His footwork is also a major work in progress but he did a better job keeping his feet flat in the pocket this year.
However, as I mentioned, his footwork is extremely rough and the core of a lot of his accuracy and consistency issues. Honestly, the lack of improvement in his footwork the past few years is really disappointing and makes me concerned if he will ever make the improvements he needs. His base in the pocket is all over the place and he still really struggles to consistently get his feet aligned with his target. Also, his footwork completely falls apart when he’s pressured often limiting how cleanly he can get the ball out. On the move, he struggles to sync up his upper and lower body on throws. He got away with that in college thanks to his plus arm talent. However, I have concerns about how repeatable this will be in the NFL. Something that also worries me in the NFL is his dropback. It’s pretty rough with some false steps, heel clicks, and lacks a consistent rhythm. He will absolutely need to get this cleaned up to pass NFL teams’ standards and it’s disappointing it’s still so rough with the amount of experience he has. What is also disappointing to see him lack is his ability to throw with anticipation. It was something he struggled with at Duke and continued to struggle with at Notre Dame. He typically waits until his pass catcher is well past his break to throw the ball which gives the defender time to establish themselves and make a play on the ball. His accuracy is also really rough as his charting grades probably indicate. He can throw a solid slant pass but everything other than that is usually a bit of an adventure. There were so many throws where the pass catcher was open and he had a clean pocket for a routine completion and he could still just not even be close to his target regardless of the distance. That’s extremely frustrating for an offense and seemed to be frustrating for Notre Dame with the number of times they were willing to run the ball on third and long and basically concede the drive. When the team did need him to deliver on third and long or were down, Leonard had trouble leading the offense and pulling the team back. Ohio State showed how easy Leonard is to beat if you clog the middle to clog passing lanes and force him to beat them from the pocket. When Leonard does throw and the pass is more on target, he often lacks the awareness of knowing where to place the ball to make the ball more catchable and protect the pass catcher. There were so many times when he often failed to lead his pass catcher forcing them to work their way back to the ball and lead to lost yards. Now he can put some touch on throws, but really struggles with proper release angles and points causing fluctuating results downfield. A big part of that issue is his wonky release. He has a tendency to flair the ball out to the side before throwing it which really prolongs his motion despite his good arm strength. So despite having great arm strength, he often lacks the precision to deliver on those deep throws. Finally, while he can typically avoid pressure, he sometimes catches it at the last minute. This led to some of his issues holding the ball too long and I’d like to see him not only speed up his processor as a passer but also identify pressure closing in since better athletes in the NFL will close those gaps faster. Also, he can often get panicked a bit too much from incoming pressure which leads to him ducking his head a bit too quickly to burst from the pocket and lose track of his pass catchers. When he is trying to keep an eye on his pass catchers, he really struggles to find passing windows, especially in the pocket, leading to a fair number of deflections at the line of scrimmage. Finally, while he can make movements in the pocket, he does so in a bidirectional method. So, he often moves vertically up or down in the pocket but doesn’t make the horizontal or sideways movements to properly maximize his protection.
Riley Leonard is someone that I first became a fan of after his 2022 season at Duke. I became a fan due to seeing a player with great rushing upside who just needed to get more reps and practice throwing the ball. I figured if he got to even an average level as a passer then he could be a really promising quarterback. Unfortunately, as it’s likely clear from this scouting report, I’m still waiting for him to get there. It’s just really frustrating continuing to wait for Leonard to put it all together and I’m at the point where I’m not sure he ever will. I can understand others wanting to buy into his upside but I’ve personally run out of patience after waiting two years. For Leonard’s comp, I think the easiest comp is to Taysom Hill but I just used that comp last year for Brennan Armstrong and try to avoid repeats. So, I instead have Tim Tebow as Leonard’s comp. Both are more rushers than passers and have good builds to take on the hits. Also, both are willing to swallow their egos to help a team win which will impress teams. Like Tebow, Leonard has better accuracy on the move when he gets the passing lanes cleared. Unfortunately, their accuracy in the pocket is really rough due to their wonky release and poor footwork. While they have good arm strength, they usually aren’t able to deliver on it due to their poor mechanics. Also, both can struggle as processors and often resort to rushing when pressure is closing in instead of finding a target downfield. Similar to Tebow, I can see a team falling in love with him during the interview process and the upside he brings as a rusher. He likely won’t pan out in the NFL but that won’t stop some teams from dreaming and shooting for high upside.