Can we come back from Crazytown for a second here?

by KGB, Belly o. the Beast, Tuesday, September 10, 2024, 14:58 (86 days ago) @ Mike (bart)
edited by KGB, Tuesday, September 10, 2024, 15:02

Riley Leonard has a body of evidence at a power-conference school that suggests he's on a different level as a passer than the guys who are being mentioned as comps. He was 64% on completions at Duke across 13 games two years ago, threw TD/INT at over a 3/1 rate. That's not Penix level but it's pretty good for an underclassman playing without much skill talent at his disposal.

Brandon Wimbush started at ND for parts of two seasons. In the longer stint where he started 12 games, Wimbush completed fewer than 50% of his pass attempts. He returned the following season and bumped that up to a hot 53% rate and threw 4 TDs to go along with 6 interceptions. He had a big arm and some potential, but Wimbush was an unmitigated disaster throwing the football. His body of work in the art of screen passes is nearly unparalleled among college QBs.

Getting back to Leonard, there's clearly some discomfort with Denbrock's system and a lack of chemistry with the receivers right now. But this is based on a sample size of two (2) games, the first of which ended with him completing a couple of clutch throws and leading the team on an 85-yard, game-winning TD drive late in the fourth quarter in a hostile environment. Maybe he never gets appreciably better at throwing the football here; maybe he never even gets the opportunity based on the news of the day. But I think it's presumptuous to pass judgment about Leonard based on such a small sample size when he's exhibited a level of competence elsewhere.