{"id":243636,"date":"2025-08-26T16:48:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T20:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=243636"},"modified":"2025-08-26T16:48:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T20:48:36","slug":"will-colts-riley-leonard-become-best-notre-dame-qb-since-joe-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/08\/26\/will-colts-riley-leonard-become-best-notre-dame-qb-since-joe-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Colts Rookie Become Best Notre Dame QB Since Joe Montana?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eventually, Indianapolis Colts rookie Riley Leonard could be the NFL\u2019s best Notre Dame quarterback since Joe Montana. Leonard has yet to play a regular-season game. However, he has the potential to have a great career.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leonard played his first three collegiate seasons at Duke. He then transferred to Notre Dame. Leonard threw for 2,861 yards and 21 touchdowns last year. He also rushed for a whopping 906 yards and 17 scores. More importantly, he powered Notre Dame to 14 wins and an appearance in the National Championship Game.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Colts later selected Leonard in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. It remains to be seen what type of career he\u2019ll have.<\/p>\n

Can the Colts\u2019 Riley Leonard Become the Greatest Notre Dame Quarterback Since Joe Montana?<\/h2>\n
\"Jalon
Jan 2, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) passes the ball as Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Jalon Walker (11) defends during the first quarter at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Looking Back at Joe Montana\u2019s Career<\/h3>\n

Joe Montana was a starter for two seasons at Notre Dame. He threw for 4,121 yards and 25 touchdowns and led the school to a national championship in 1977. \u00a0During the famous \u201cChicken Soup Game,\u201d Montana led the Fighting Irish from a 22-point third-quarter deficit to a win in the 1979 Cotton Bowl<\/a> despite suffering from hypothermia.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco 49ers<\/a> selected Montana in the third round of the 1979 draft. He went on to have a legendary career. With the 49ers, he won four Super Bowls, three Super Bowl MVPs, and two NFL MVPs. The eight-time Pro Bowler also led the league in passing touchdowns twice and completion percentage five times.<\/p>\n

Montana spent his final two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>. During the 1993 season, he led the team to its first-ever AFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n

Most fans and experts believe Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback in NFL history. Yet, many people feel that Montana is the G.O.A.T.<\/p>\n

Notable Notre Dame QBs Drafted After Montana<\/h3>\n

Before Montana entered the league, there were a couple of Notre Dame quarterbacks (Daryle Lamonica and Joe Theismann) who had successful professional careers. But there weren’t many after Montana was drafted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Steve Beuerlein was drafted by the Los Angeles Raiders (fourth round) in 1987. He would play 14 NFL seasons with six different teams. Beuerlein won a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys<\/a>, serving as Troy Aikman’s backup. The Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a> took him with the No. 1 selection in the 1995 NFL Expansion Draft. During his tenure with the Carolina Panthers, he made the Pro Bowl and led the league in passing yards in 1998.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rick Mirer came around a few years after Beuerlein exited Notre Dame. He left the school ranked first in career touchdowns with 41 and was hyped as the next Joe Montana. The Seattle Seahawks<\/a> selected Mirer second overall in the 1993 draft. Unfortunately, he would have a disappointing NFL career. He played for seven teams in 12 seasons and never made a Pro Bowl.<\/p>\n

Other notable Notre Dame quarterbacks include Brady Quinn,\u00a0Jimmy Clausen, and <\/span>DeShone Kizer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Will Leonard Do It?<\/h3>\n
\"Riley
Aug 7, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Riley Leonard (15) scrambles with the ball against the Baltimore Ravens during the third quarter at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Right now, Leonard is the Colts\u2019 No. 3 quarterback. He\u2019s behind starter Daniel Jones and primary backup Anthony Richardson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You never know, Jones could have a breakout year and lead<\/a> the team to the playoffs this season. Or Richardson could become QB1 again at some point and show why he was the No. 4 pick in the draft a couple of years ago.<\/p>\n

With that said, Leonard might not see the field in 2025. But he could ultimately emerge as Indy\u2019s starter and put together a remarkable career.<\/p>\n

Leonard put on a show in the preseason finale<\/a> against the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>. He played the whole first half of the game, completing 15-of-20 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown (a 59-yard heave to wide receiver Laquon Treadwell). Sure, it was only a preseason game, but he displayed his talent.<\/p>\n

Riley Leonard is a leader and is tough as nails. Developing into one of the NFL\u2019s greatest Notre Dame quarterbacks is certainly possible.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: [Katie Stratman] – Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perhaps the Colts\u2019 Riley Leonard will eventually be the NFL\u2019s best Notre Dame quarterback since the legendary Joe Montana. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4890,"featured_media":243985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,12],"tags":[33691,4688,7800,2635,33119],"class_list":["post-243636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-colts","tag-anthony-richarson","tag-daniel-jones","tag-indianapolis-colts-news","tag-joe-montana","tag-riley-leonard"],"modified_by":"Michael Zimmelman","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4890"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243636"}],"version-history":[{"count":84,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":243984,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243636\/revisions\/243984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}