The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have been trying to make a run at the College Football Playoff and failed to make it into the playoff. However, they have a new quarterback this year as Riley Leonard transferred to the program from the Duke Blue Devils this offseason. However, his status to be under center may be in jeopardy.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman announced that Leonard underwent surgery on Friday to address a stress fracture in his foot. This is the same foot/ankle that was operated on earlier this year. Leonard suffered a terrible ankle injury on Sept. 30 against Notre Dame as a member of the Duke Blue Devils and missed a week before re-aggravating it against Florida State.
Riley Leonard is looking for a healthier 2024 season with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In 2023 with Duke, he was limited to go 95-of-165 (57.6%) for 1,102 yards with three touchdown passes and three interceptions. Due to the surgery, Leonard is expected to miss a majority, if not the entire, spring practice schedule and could be out for the start of the season depending on his recovery process.
Will the Notre Dame Fighting Irish make the College Football Playoff this season?
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a better shot at making the College Football Playoff this season by sheer numbers as the field has expanded from four to 12. However, they cannot get the top four seeds as the Fighting Irish are an independent program and those spots are for the Power Five conference winners.
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Notre Dame has the 12th-best odds of winning the 2025 NCAAF National Championship (+2800). That surely relies on the health of quarterback Riley Leonard as if he is out with his foot/ankle injury, that makes things tougher.
The Fighting Irish have a lot of dominant players but with pieces changing as star players are in the 2024 NFL draft, the likelihood of the program making a run for a national championship seems bleak. However, there is still five months before the season officially kicks off and things may change in that stretch.
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