Marcus Freeman happy for 'ascending player' Riley Leonard after NFL Draft

It was a long wait for Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard to hear his name called. Eventually, he did, though, and went in the sixth round to the Indianapolis Colts.

One person who was incredibly happy for Riley Leonard was Marcus Freeman, his head coach at Notre Dame. Since he was selected, Freeman referred to his former quarterback as an ascending player and emphasized his potential as a player.

“A lot of the talk is, he’s an ascending player,” Marcus Freeman said. “He’ll be a guy that isn’t near his ceiling. He can continue to improve, which is intriguing for the NFL.”

Riley Leonard began his college career at Duke. He’d spend three seasons there after starting since his freshman season. However, ahead of his senior year, Leonard hit the Transfer Portal and landed at Notre Dame and playing for Freeman.

In his one season with Notre Dame, Leonard would lead the Irish to the College Football Playoff. From there, Notre Dame went on a run to the national championship game before falling to Ohio State. He finished the season completing 66.7 percent of his passes for 2,861 yards and 21 touchdowns. He also ran for 906 yards and another 17 touchdowns.

Now, Riley Leonard finds himself in one of the NFL’s more interesting quarterback rooms. Former first round pick Anthony Richardson has struggled through his first two NFL seasons, getting benched in the 2024 season. This offseason, the Colts also brought in Daniel Jones, a former first round pick in his own right, who is looking to revitalize his own career after struggling with the New York Giants and briefly signing with the Minnesota Vikings.

While Richardson and Jones are expected to compete for the starting job in Indianapolis, there’s the potential that both will struggle again. If that’s the case, and Leonard can hit the potential that Freeman sees for him, then there’s a chance he could make some noise in that quarterback room too, even as a sixth round pick.

Riley Leonard’s move to the NFL has also left Marcus Freeman with an interesting quarterback situation. After bringing in experienced transfers at quarterback in three of the last four seasons, Notre Dame didn’t dip into the portal for another quarterback in 2025. Instead, Freeman is overseeing a quarterback competition with CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey fighting for the starting job. Steve Angeli also competed for the job but has since transferred out of the program.