Notre Dame Football Should Be Excited About Riley Leonard's Ball Security

He's much better than the previous ACC transfer quarterback in a very key statistic

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard (13) who is hurt, dresses and throws some pre-game passes with fellow quarterbacks Saturday, April 20, 2024, at the annual Notre Dame Blue-Gold spring football game at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend. / MANDATORY CREDIT GREG SWIERCZ / USA

There are a lot of reasons for Notre Dame football fans to be excited about Riley Leonard playing quarterback in 2024.

Leonard is a true dual-threat quarterback that should thrive in Mike Denbrock's offense.

Leonard completed over 63% of his passes two seasons ago when he was healthy all year. He led Duke to a 9-4 record that season and had completed over 67% of his passes last season before the Notre Dame game which he got hurt.

The number that is probably the most impressive when you look up Riley Leonard's career though is his turnover totals.

Or lack-there-of.

Riley Leonard Doesn't Give the Football Away

Riley Leonard played three seasons at Duke before hitting the transfer portal and ending up at Notre Dame.

In those three years he attempted 619 passes and was intercepted just 10 times total.

I didn't major in math, but I do believe that works out to being intercepted once very 61.9 pass attempts.

In case you were curious, in his time at Wake Forest, Sam Hartman threw 41 interceptions in 1,597 pass attempts. Sure, there are a lot more sample size to work with there, but Hartman was picked off once every 38.9 times he passed at Wake Forest.

At Notre Dame, Hartman was worse in this department, getting intercepted once every 37.6 pass attempts.

Take away an interception or two against Louisville and perhaps the pick-six from happening with Hartman last year and you may just be looking at a Notre Dame team that went 11-1 in the regular season instead of 9-3. And with that, a trip to the New Years Six instead of the Sun Bowl would have been had.

Riley Leonard's More Concerning Number Ahead of 2024 Season

Riley Leonard doesn't turn the ball over at nearly the same clip as Sam Hartman but there certainly is a recurring theme between the two.

Sure, it's easy to say offensive players generally don't perform as well against great defenses, but Leonard's numbers against the best are hardly impressive.

Against the best teams on Duke's schedule the last two years, Leonard has really struggled to get his passing game going.

In 2023 against Clemson, he completed just 17 of 33 attempts for 175 yards. The good news was he was able to run for 98 yards on eight carries which included a touchdown jog in the 28-7 upset win.

Against Notre Dame, one of the nation's best pass defenses in 2023 mind you, he went just 12/27 previous to getting hurt. Again, his ability to move kept Duke in the game as he ran for 88 yards on 18 carries (four sacks).

By the Florida State and Louisville games when his ankle was clearly not healthy, Leonard combined to complete just 16 of 39 passes and ran for only 26 yards. Duke lost both those games.

What should also be noted is that as good as Leonard was in 2022, his success came in a schedule that Duke did not play any ranked teams. Against Georgia Tech and Miami that year (both finished just 5-7), Leonard was able to complete just 33 of 67 passes. Against Miami he was able to scamper for 61 yards and three touchdowns, however.

Riley Leonard Expectations for 2024

These numbers could all be things that we look back on a handful of months from now and just laugh at.

Perhaps a fully healthy Riley Leonard goes into College Station and leads Notre Dame to an impressive season opening win at Texas A&M and it kickstarts a season in which he helps guide the Irish back to the College Football Playoff.

I can't sit here and give a good prediction as to what kind of numbers Leonard is going to put up this year.

What I can tell you is that Leonard's ability to move and him being paired with Mike Denbrock is infinitely more exciting to think about than the rough hand Sam Hartman was dealt in being paired with Gerad Parker as his offensive coordinator during his one season at Notre Dame.

Related: How Riley Leonard could win the Heisman at Notre Dame

Riley Leonard wins top honors at Manning Passing Academy