Notre Dame quarterbacks 2024: Who is likely to start for Marcus Freeman's Fighting Irish this season?

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will have another new starting quarterback in 2024 after Sam Hartman went to the NFL.

The Fighting Irish landed Hartman for his final college season last year in the transfer portal and now Notre Dame has secured Riley Leonard from Duke.

Leonard will be the most probable choice for the Fighting Irish's starting role this season. Last year at Duke, Leonard went 95-for-165 for 1,102 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions, but injuries plagued him last season.

In 2022, when Leonard was healthy, he went 250-for-391 for 2,967 yards, along with 20 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Syndication: South Bend Tribune

After Notre Dame landed Riley Leonard in the transfer portal, Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman was ecstatic about it:

“He was the best quarterback that we believed was in the Portal,” Freeman said, via Irish Sports Daily. “To me, you get the best players first and then you say, 'OK, how do we tailor what we do around those guys?' That is so important...He's a complete quarterback. Number one, he's competitive. I don't want that to be a word that's just thrown out there lightly. That's something that I have a lot of respect for, how competitive you are.

"You see it by the way he plays in short-yardage situations, his ability to put his shoulder down and say, 'I'm not going to be denied.' But then in the passing game, he can make every single throw. He's accurate, but he also can extend plays with his legs and now he has a true ability to make you respect him by pulling the ball in some of those zone read situations. What it does is puts the defense at conflict,” he added.

Leonard's potential first start as a Fighting Irish quarterback will be on the road against the Texas A&M Aggies.

Other QBs in Notre Dame's depth chart behind Riley Leonard

Riley Leonard is the presumed starter for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, but they do have some in-house options behind him.

The backup for Notre Dame is Steve Angeli who played in seven games and started the Sun Bowl. In his freshman season, he went 34-for-44 for 504 yards, seven touchdowns, and one interception.

The third-string quarterback is Kenny Minchey, who was a four-star QB in the class of 2023. Minchey was the 14th-ranked quarterback in this class.