Notre Dame football: 3 transfers who'll have biggest impacts in 2024

1. Riley Leonard, QB (from Duke)

The most obvious choice comes in at No. 1 as Riley Leonard was the most high-profile transfer pickup for the Irish this offseason after a strong Duke career under Mike Elko.

Leonard was the star of Duke and a major reason for the turnaround in Durham. He excelled under Elko before his head coach decided to leave for Texas A&M. When his head coach left for Texas A&M, Leonard made the easy decision to enter the portal and because the Aggies already have a starting quarterback in place, he opted not to follow Elko and instead chose Notre Dame.

Since the Irish are losing Sam Hartman this offseason, this decision makes sense. Of course, Steve Angeli is still there, but I doubt he beats Leonard out for the job.

Leonard is coming off an injury which cut his 2023 season short, but in his last fully healthy campaign, he passed for 2,967 yards and 20 touchdowns with six picks on a 64 percent completion rate. He also rushed for 699 yards and 13 touchdowns that season.

This will be a fun player to watch next season.