Riley Leonard NFL draft stock: Notre QB's potential landing spots explored after Orange Bowl

Riley Leonard and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were able to come from behind and secure their spot in the national championship game after a 27-24 win over the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl on Thursday. The senior quarterback gets to play one more game of college football after getting the win despite having unimpressive numbers.

He finished the game completing 15-of-23 passes for 223 yards with a touchdown pass to two interceptions while also running 18 times for 35 yards (1.9 yards per carry) and an additional rushing touchdown.

With four years of experience and two great seasons under his belt, it will be intriguing to see how NFL scouts will view him.

Let's take a deeper dive into Riley Leonard's NFL draft stock and discuss what he has done well and needs improvement on. Can he be one of the first quarterbacks off the board or will he need to wait a while before hearing his name being called on draft day?

Riley Leonard NFL draft stock

Despite doing his part to lead Notre Dame to the national title game, Riley Leonard has not shown enough to be considered a top pick in the NFL draft. He has some incredible tools as he is a dominant runner on designed quarterback runs and can stand tall in the pocket while dealing with pressure.

His intangibles are also going to get NFL scouts looking his way as he is listed at 6-foot-4, 216 pounds and can take a hit without being fazed.

However, there are still things he needs to work on to be playing on Sundays. His footwork needs to be cleaned up a bit as he struggles to have consistency there and that causes a concern with his accuracy on his downfield passes. Leonard needs to be able to throw the ball down the field with better accuracy to take that next step.

This season was certainly a step in the right direction but expect Riley Leonard to be a Day 2 selection as he has a fourth-round selection tag on him due to some issues.

However, with the quarterback depth in this year's draft being weak, especially with Carson Beck entering the NCAA Transfer Portal, teams may reach for him earlier on the second day.

What teams would be interested in Riley Leonard?

With the position that Riley Leonard operates at, it could be interesting as more teams are going to be viewing him as a backup quarterback than as someone who will be competing for the starting quarterback spot. One place that makes a lot of sense for Leonard to get drafted to would be the San Francisco 49ers.

They have one more year of Brock Purdy's contract and that means the organization could reset the quarterback clock with Riley Leonard taking over and letting Purdy go as a free agent or trade candidate.

Another team would be the Indianapolis Colts as the front office and coaching staff do not seem to believe in quarterback Anthony Richardson and that would give Leonard a chance to compete for a starting quarterback spot right away.