Notre Dame football’s BIGGEST QUESTIONS on Offense: Can Riley Leonard make this unite elite?

if Notre Dame is going to make a run in the college football playoff this season they're going to need an elite offense to do it my biggest questions about each position group on that side of the ball coming right up you are locked on Irish your daily podcast on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hello and welcome to another edition of locked on Iris your daily Notre Dame podcast today is Wednesday May 22nd and thank you for making this your first listen of the day my name is Tyler WJ and I'm the host I'm a Notre Dame Alum and producer at Fox Sports as always you can watch the show on YouTube or you can listen wherever you get your podcast if you are watching along please like the video below and subscribe to the channel or if you're listening to the Pod please take a moment to rate the show five stars leave a review And subscribe there as well as for today I'm going to break down each position group on the office side of the ball and share the most pressing question that I have about each one as we head into the summer months here I'll do the same exercise for the defense on a later episode but I'm probably going to save that for next week because we've got some recruiting stuff to talk about um on Thursday I know that Notre Dame recently signed a three star defensive lineman and fans are quite upset about the defensive line class in 2025 so I'm going to talk about all of that tomorrow and then on Friday I'm doing another mailbag so get your questions in you can drop them in in the comments if you're watching Along on YouTube or you can send them to me on social media the Twitter account is lockon Irish or or you can DM the show on Instagram at locktown Irish pod all right now let's get to the most important position on the entire team and the biggest question I have about the quarterbacks in 2024 can Riley Leonard be better than the rest and I'm not talking about the rest of the guys on the dep chart because if you look at Notre step chart uh at the quarterback position it's better than it's been in a really long time yeah it's a pretty low bar I know that but we still have to acknowledge it and celebrate it because not's got a good room they've got Riley Leonard the projected starter the transfer from duke they also have Steve Angeli who's entering his third season with the program has some starting experience under his belt really quality backup option and then you've got the Young Guns Kenny mchy and CJ Carr to round out the room and there's plenty of potential with those young guys but all eyes are going to be Riley Leonard uh for this season it's funny because if you think back to this time last year when Notre him added Sam Hartman from Wake Forest he felt like the Savior notan paid a lot of money to get him he had a ton of experience ton of ACC blades and most of all Sam Hartman was a major improvement from the guys that we had the season prior that's why when I see some of the Sam Hartman criticism and say that we all got a little overboard in the offseason leading up to last season I'll admit that the expectations were clearly too high based on what Sam Harman ended up doing but when you think about the reason why people were so excited it's because they all had to endure the 2022 season and what Notre put out on the field at the quarterback position in Tyler Buckner and Drew Pine we were desperate man so of course course we were going to get excited about Sam Harbin it didn't turn out as we all had hoped but still it was an upgrade now this year not went out and they got another bigname transfer out of the ACC uh they paid a lot of money to get him but the vibe around Riley Leonard is so much different than it was with Sam Hartman nobody is really looking at Riley Leonard as the Savior there is certainly a lot more skepticism about Riley Leonard from the fan base myself included and I think it's fair I think that know now that this is the third transfer that notam has had to go out and get the first one was Jack con then it was Sam Hartman and now it's Riley Leonard um you know it wasn't that the Jack con experience and the Sam har Sam Hartman experience hurt the team it just wasn't enough uh to get Notre him to the college football playoff and make a serious run but Ry Leonard is projected to go much higher in the NFL draft than Sam Hartman or Jacko and I've seen him you know as high as second round on some mock drafts I know Nate tries to believe his name is super high on Riley Leonard as a Pro Prospect and that has never really made a ton of sense to me but hey if he puts it all together this year then he certainly going to go really high um on the draft boards because he has all the tools you want and that's why I've said before that I believe that Riley Leonard has the highest ceiling of any Notre Dame quarterback in a really long time when you consider his size his athletic ability uh and his arm strength as well so I think that he's got a lot of things going for him plus Riley Leonard's game and what he's best at is is more suited to the modern game of college football and more specifically the offense that notams offensive coordinator Mike Den Brock wants to run because Riley Leonard can run the ball he's a really really good runner he's a great athlete that might be his best attribute but he can also throw the ball downfield and even though accuracy has been a concern at times there's video evidence you can look at the film and see him fit some balls into into some really tight windows and make some throws that require you to anticipate and lead the receiver and throw the wide receiver open he's proven he can do it can he do it on a consistent basis that remains to be seen But if Riley Leonard is able to put it all together he could have a truly unbelievable season and he would end up being much better than Sam Hartman Jack con or E even Ian book so when you compare Riley Leonard's numbers in 2022 to some of the other Notre Dame quarterbacks he's proven that he can be a really capable guy and that he can really light up the stat sheet and I think he should be able to put up better numbers this season than he did in 2022 because he's got more Talent around him notame is really good running backs there's a ton of depth at wide receiver they've got a good tight end in Mitchell Evans and even though the offensive line has some concerns they also have a much better offensive coordinator and Mike Den Brock who wants to run a scheme that is best suited to Riley Leonard's um skill set Den Brock likes to run the ball with his quarterback we saw that with deshaan Kaiser back in 2015 we saw that recently with Jane Daniels and even Desmond Ritter when Den Brock was at Cincinnati plus Notre Dame has a pretty favorable schedule so if Riley Leonard does that and he outperforms all the other QBs that Notre has had in recent years then this team really does have a chance at achieving something special all right now let's look at the running backs I think the question here is pretty clear who's the alpha because um notame has five guys in the room right now that all bring different things to the table but really it's going to come down to Jeremiah Love and jadarian price last year was both of their first years uh getting significant action even though it was jarian Price's second year with the program he missed his entire freshman season 2 to an injury so Jeremiah got the ball a little bit more he finished with 71 carries 385 yards and a touchdown he also added eight receptions for 77 receiving yards and another touchdown jaran price didn't have as many carries he had 47 carries for 272 rushing yards and three touchdowns he also added a touchdown uh as a receiving threat as well although I think both of their receiving touchdowns came against Tennessee state so I don't really put a ton of stock into that but when they were the lead backs in the bowl game against er uh against Oregon State they both looked really good Jeremiah Love was the starter but it was actually jadarian price who ended up eclipsing the 100 yard rushing Mark so both the both these guys are going to contribute a ton this season they bring different things to the table Jeremiah Love is more is more of a receiving threat jarian price is probably more of your traditional running back just given his stature his ability to run in between the tackles although I will say that even though there was some concern about Jeremiah Love's ability to run in between the tackles once he got to the college level he is really impressed in that regard I think back to what he did in the Ohio State game that guy was hitting the hole at a million miles an hour and you think about Jeremiah love as more of like a big play speed threat on the outside that guy was running through contact and you started to see that a little bit in Spring practice when he ran over ad Don Schuler in the Jersey scrimmage so they're both capable of doing it but I think that there's going to be points uh especially late in games when you need one of these guys to make a play and get a first down and they're probably going to have to run through some contact in order to do it who are you going to give the ball to to in big third and short situations or just big drives late in the game when you absolutely need a first down last year was Audrey KES for obvious reasons except for the Ohio State game when we all of a sudden decided to take him off the field we're going to move past that I don't think it's going to be the same situation this year you need a guy who's going to be able to pick up first downs even when it comes down to running into loaded box or situations that aren't super advantageous for the ball carrier you need an alpha and I think it's going to be jadarian price I have a lot of confidence in him I think that we're going to see the type of player uh that was talked about a couple years ago before jaran price got hurt when there were Whispers that hey jarian price might actually be more talented than Audrey KES and Logan Diggs then he got hurt and then he needed last season to recover this year he should be going into it fully healthy and I think that he is poised to have an absolute breakout year but it's going to come down to who the coaching staff trusts the most in these moments and that trust is going to have to be earned it's going to have to be earned in the summer in workouts it's going to have to be earned in Fall camp getting ready for the season and then obviously in real live game situations on Saturday these two guys are both going to have incredible seasons for Notre Dame this year they're going to put up a bunch of stats score a bunch of touchdowns but I'm really interested to see when it comes down to crunch time who is the alpha and who's going to be the lead back for this unit because it's great to have a five-headed monster or two-headed monster at the end of the game you need one guy you need one alpha and I think it's going to be jaran price but we're going to have to wait and see all right coming up next not might lack an elite receiving threat at wide receiver in tight end right now but is there enough depth to make up for it today's episode is brought to you by eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors is everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up it's to Peak Performance from superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you're in a speed power style eBay Motors has got you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you'll always find exactly what you're looking for and with eBay guarant fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because with eBay Motors you're burning rubber not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it's easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win keep your ride or die alive at ebay.com motos eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers eligible items only exclusions apply all right now that we've talked about the guys throwing the ball and the guys running the ball let's talk about the guys who are going to be catching passes this season and let's start with the wide receivers so the biggest question that I have about the wide receiver unit heading into 2024 is can the hole be greater than the sum of its parts Notre Dame has a much deeper room than they've had in years and again like the quarterback position it's a pretty low bar but I really really like the amount of options that Notre has in the wide receiver room right now and if you were to try to predict the starting unit the three starting wide receivers that Notre is going to roll out there I think you could throw out a bunch of different combinations and a lot of them would make sense so right now if you look at the field receiver spot I think it's going to be Chris Mitchell the transfer from Florida International but um you also have guys like Jane greous who is probably best suited to play slot but great house is also going to have to rotate uh with Jordan Faison and jayen Harrison as well at the slot position and Jane greous is not going to be a guy you want to take off the field that often so you can move him to the field receiver where there doesn't seem to be as many backup options uh unless they play Mikey Gilbert at the field spot instead of the boundary at boundary it could be Bo Collins the transer from Clemson it could be Jane Thomas although Jane Thomas might be a little bit more suited for the slot he's played there before um then you've got Dion KY who is almost forgotten about just because he's been around for a really long time and he dealt with injuries last season and his career has been pretty up and down but he actually did start or he didn't start but he played some serious uh minutes as a true freshman so maybe he steps it up this year but my point is there's a bunch of different ways you can move these guys around but as of now there isn't one guy who is truly Elite there is not a guy in this room that defenses have to game plan around a guy who's going to go out there and make a play in a big moment no matter who is guarding him and I think you need that in college football to win at the highest level if you look at Michigan they didn't have a great receiving core uh but man did did Roman Wilson seem to show up every single time they needed him especially in that Alabama game in the college football playoff semi-final he made some really big plays when Michigan needed them um and then you look at who Michigan played in the national championship Washington had a ton of great wide receivers Texas had a bunch of great wide receivers as well a couple first round picks so you really need Elite wide receiver play in order to win in the college football playoff right now Notre doesn't have that Elite guy but they have a bunch of guys who can do a bunch of different things for you but they're going to need all of them to sort of come together and provide Elite production without that one Elite receiver that's difficult but I don't think it's imposs possible so the guys are most high on in the wide receiver room are Jane great house Jane Thomas Chris Mitchell and Jordan fison Jane great house is very consistent we knew that when he was coming out of high school he set records in Texas for receiving yards touchdowns all kinds of things so it wasn't really a shock that he came into Notre him and made an impact as a true freshman was actually tied for the team lead and receiving touchdowns freshman season despite the fact that he missed several games due to a hamstring injury he has the best chance of being being a true wide receiver number one in this group but he's also probably going to lead the team in receptions and I think that on key third down situations if the ball isn't going to a tight end it's probably going to Jane grow so I feel really good about him I also really like Jane Thomas and I know that sort of uh people's perception of Jaden Thomas might have might it might have taken a hit after last season but he really just couldn't stay on the field and he couldn't stay healthy but then in that bowl game and when he looked fully healthy again he was making plays and he is who Steve Angeli trusted the most um at least in critical situations Jordan fison obviously had a huge game there as well that's another guy I'm super high on I think that Jordan Faison is the best with the ball in his hands he's the guy who can take a bubble screen a bubble screen and take it to the house it's not quite will Fuller level when they used to run those tunnel screens to him but I do expect that play to be back in the Playbook uh because Mike denrock was the one calling it way back in 2015 now he's going to be calling it again I just think that when Jordan fison has the ball in his hands he's so quick he's so Shifty and so elusive that he can make a play out of pretty much anything and then you've got Chris Mitchell who is a deep threat that's why Notre Dame went and got him out of FIU in the transfer portal Marcus ran even said as much after the spring game when Chris Mitchell scored the game-winning touchdown now granted he did score that on a walk-on who fell down mid playay but still that's what you want to see from a guy uh that you went out and you got in the portal and that is what he is best at doing he put up really good numbers at Florida International or International and you know whenever you add a guy from from a program like that there's always going to be some concerns about how is this game ele uh able to translate to the next level or in this case the same level uh in college football but just better competition and based on the reports from string practice it sounds like Chris Mitchell has proven that he's going to be able to do that so if these guys can be elite at what they're asked to do the unit as a whole can become a strength in a way that it hasn't been in a really long time and there's other options as well there's guys like Bo Collins who we haven't really seen yet in a notam uniform who could be a big time contributor this year there's miky Gilbert the true freshman who's probably going to force his way out of the field because because he's just been that good so far uh in Spring practice and I expect he's going to continue on that trajectory throughout the summer into fall Camp so you got guys with Elite traits you've got really talented players around them if they could all come together and put it together Notre Dame could have Elite production despite the fact that they might not have one truly Elite wide out all right let's look at tight ends my biggest question here is the next great notor am tight end in this room I could have just said Can these guys stay healthy and that probably would have been a perfectly acceptable question for this unit and given all the injury history that these guys have suffered but that's a cop out that's not what you come here for so for me and what I think about you know who's going to be the next great Notre rame tight end I think Mitchell Evans is really good I thought he was extremely reliable last season at times he felt like the only reliable receiving threat for Sam Hartman but I don't think that Mitch Evans is quite at the level of some of the great tight ends that have come through Notre Dame in recent years again still very high in them but I'm talking about like the elite of the elite he's not the next Michael Mayer he's not the next Tyler rer or Kyle Rudolph I think the player who has the best chance at accomplishing that is Eli raran raran 6'7 he's 252 pounds he has great speed for his size he's a matchup nightmare for defenses if a linebacker gets lined up on him he's going to be too small and too slow and if it's a quarterback or really any defensive back for that matter they're going to be way too small to make a play especially if it's a jump ball when Eli Ren can go up and get it so I understand that Eli Ren isn't quite the blocker that Mitchell Evans is but if he's healthy Eli Ren could become a real problem for opposing defenses especially when Mitchell Evans is on the field alongside him because I know that with Mike Den Brock Notre is going to run a lot more 11 personnel with three wide receivers one tight end and one running back but if Evans is healthy and raran is healthy notam goes out there in 12 personnel with two tight ends the defense is going to have to adjust they're probably going to stack the box but notam is going to be able to throw out of that formation uh to two really talented receiving threats in Eli ran and Mitchell Evans so if Eli ran can truly take that next step and he can start showing signs of all the potential we heard about when he was coming out of high school and he was a high fourar recruit then the offense could really go to the next level especially in the Red Zone because he's such a big body he could make a ton of plays in the red zone he was the first player to score a touchdown in the blue and gold game was a receiving uh touchdown right there even though he bobbled it made the play look a little bit more difficult I thought it was telling that the play was designed to go to him when Notre Dame needed a touchdown in the red zone so even though there's concerns about the injuries with the room I still think there's a ton of talent there there's also Cooper Flanigan who's going to be entering his second year with the program he's got some uh he's got great potential Kevin Bowman's recovering from injury David Sherwood good h-back uh Jack Larson is a promising true but I expect him to ret this year so Notre has had a ton of great great tight ends come through the program Mitchell Evans is a really really good Pro uh really good tight end and honestly there's a good chance that Mitchell Evans gets drafted after this year but the best Notre Dame offenses in recent years have always had that truly great tight end and I think if Eli Ren is able to stay healthy and take his game to the next level he could be that and that could change everything for the Notre Dame offense okay coming up in segment three my thoughts in a position group that has plenty of questions but maybe just maybe one key answer find out right after this okay last but not least we've got the offensive line and I think for all being honest here there's probably a bunch of different questions we could ask about the offensive line and what they project to do in this upcoming season but I think the biggest question that applies to every single person every single uh player in this room can inexperience be fixed with coaching Joe Rudolph the notam offensive line coach has an extremely difficult task on his hands with this unit and it's not his fault either this is only a second year worth of program and Notre Dame lost two starting tackles after their junior year that literally never happens and that's not the way that you plan things out when you're recruiting guys it's rare for offensive linemen to leave after their fourth year in their program a lot of times they get retro to their first year and then they end up playing five years through the program unless they're really good and then they just leave after the senior year just think about uh Mike mcglinchy know he actually stayed for his fifth year think about Quint Nelson he's a good example retarders freshman year but then still stayed four years with the program if you look at Notre name's projected starting offensive line the unit that we saw go out there with the ones throughout spring practice this is how many starts they have at left tackle Charles jagas saww has won in the bowl game against an Oregon State Defense that was extremely depleted due to guys leaving for the portal or just opting out um because they declared for the NFL draft one start at left tackle left guard back hugan he started every game last season so he has 13 starts Ashton Craig at Center he has three starts projected starting Right Guard Billy sh he also has three starts TSH Baker he has three starts one last season and he had two way back in 2021 so that is the starting five they have a combined 23 starts among the five projected starters now there's also Roco Spindler who is competing for the starting uh guard spot I would assume that's at the left guard position because it seems like Billy stra has Right Guard all but locked up so if he gets in that's even less starts if he ends up starting over Pat hugan because Roco spinler got 10 starts last season before he suffered a season ending injury and then there's Emil Wagner who's also in the mix to start a right tackle I actually uh think that eventually Emil Wagner is going to beat out Tosh Baker for that right Tackle Spot well Emil Wagner hasn't started a single game in his college career so there is not much experience at a position group where experience is absolutely vital especially as Union no doesn't have that they have talent don't get me wrong Charles Jaga was a five star recruit uh Pat kugan and Ashton Craig have exceeded expectations Billy shra was a prized recruit out of high school he could be a future NFL guy as well so it's not like they don't have talent in this room but that Talent usually takes longer to develop on the offensive line and these guys just haven't had enough time to develop before they were thrust into their starting roles and that has to do with guys leaving for the NFL and things like that but that doesn't mean they can't step up and make big plays I mean Quint Nelson retured his first year but then he came in and then started and started diting dominating very early in his career so there's talent and there's reason to believe that this group can figure out but it's on Joe Rudolph it's also on Mike Den Brock and Marcus Freeman to make sure that this group is put into the most advantageous situations possible what actually eases some of my concerns about the offensive line is the fact that Notre has Mike Brock an experienced offensive coordinator who knows how to utilize all of his unit strengths and hide their weaknesses as much as possible I mean that's pretty much the name of the game and coaching how do you put your guys in spots where they can do what they're best at and how can you hide them from doing things where they're not as great at and the other team is going to try to exploit so there's ways that Mike Den Brock can fit his scheme to the personnel and I think that is going to be huge with this unit this is also where having a running quarterback comes into play as well because if Riley Leonard gets pressured he can take off and make plays with his legs even if the original play design got busted so there's reasons to believe that even if the offensive line struggles a little bit the offense can still make things work because they've got a running quarterback and they have an offensive coordinator who knows how to set up the offense in a way that an inexperienced in frankly developing unit uh can sort of figure out things on the Fly we saw it a little bit 2021 when Notre Dame switched to a fast pace short passing game um after the offensive line in 2021 really struggle throughout much of the year I think that we could see that early on with the Notre Dame offense a lot of shotgun a lot of uptempo quick plays where Ry Leonard just gets the ball turns has a quick read and makes the play it's honestly what Oregon did a lot last year with B Knicks he had the highest completion percentage of any college quarterback ever but most of the time if if you calculated his time to release it was one of the lowest in college football and look it worked Oregon didn't have an elite offensive line but they still had a highly productive offense because they were were constantly boom getting the SNP getting the ball out taking easy yards when you get them and then when you got the defense playing on their heels a little bit then you can run the ball into light boxes so there's plenty of reasons to think that this notame off offense can work fine even if the offensive line struggles a little bit especially at the beginning of the season but it's going to be on the coaches to make sure that they're able to do so I know that Joe Rudolph is only in his second year with the program but he's proven at Wisconsin that he can get his guys ready to play in even if you know they're not quite at the you know cfp caliber that you would hope you can still get the most out of them and that is going to be absolutely crucial for the snow offense because if you have a bad offensive line and you just can't stop anyone then it really doesn't matter who you have at the skill positions if guys are coming through right up the middle and they're harassing the quarterback and they're tackling the running back three yards behind the line of scrimmage that offense ain't doing anything I don't care if you have actually I was gonna say Reggie Bush but he probably could get out of that but you get my point right and I have a feeling that with Joe R uh Joe Rudolph Mike Den Brock and even de McCulla working hand inand in this as well because he has a big say in the Run game with these coaches who we know we all admit are really really great the Notre Dame coaching staff as a whole is better than it's been in a really long time I think that if they're able to make up for some of the lack of uh experience on this unit specifically the team and specifically the offense is going to be in much much better shape so it's going to be a big challenge for Joe Rudolph but this is the kind of thing that separates the good coaches from the great ones and if Joe Rudolph is able to get this offensive line to work and they go to the college football playoff and they're able to run the ball and Riley Leonard has time that would be one hell of a coaching job and one hell of a bullet on je Joe Rudolph's resumee it's going to be really exciting to see because I know I've been critical a lot about the offensive line so far but I don't want to sound like I'm completely pessimistic and I think there's no chance for this group to succeed this year I think there's a shot we're just going to have to see how it plays out all right that's a wrap for this episode thanks again for making lock on Iris your first listen of the day I'm going to be back tomorrow to talk some recruiting like I said at the top Notre added a three star defensive line commit and uh message boards are going crazy about defensive line recruiting so I've got some thoughts on that I think I'm going to have Brian Smith lockdowns recruiting Insider on as well to talk through the entire situation so you're going to want to tune in tomorrow morning in the meantime though make sure that you're subscribe on YouTube or wherever you're listening to the podcast and also give us a follow on social media the X account is at lock Irish Instagram is lockon Irish pod also get your mailbag questions in in the you in the YouTube comments or you can send them in on social media also you can give my personal X account a follow Tyler WJ C A see you guys tomorrow