Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard excited to join Colts

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The final picks are in.

The Indianapolis Colts wrapped up the 2025 NFL Draft Saturday with five picks over the final four rounds. The headliner of the day was former Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard.

Leonard led the Fighting Irish to the national championship game last year, ultimately losing to Ohio State in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Leonard left South Bend after recording 2,861 passing yards and 906 rushing yards with 38 total touchdowns.

After getting the call, Leonard hopped on a Zoom press conference with Indianapolis media — completely decked out in Colts gear.

“Throughout this whole process, there’s no place that I would rather be than back in Indiana,” Leonard said. “Even when I was at the Combine in Indianapolis, it kind of just felt like home.”

Leonard already has a connection with Colts head coach Shane Steichen and has also spent time working out with former Colts quarterback Philip Rivers.

“I think that this has been really fortunate for me to just have an inner circle, specifically in relation to Coach Steichen,” Leonard said.

Before Notre Dame, Leonard played three seasons at Duke, amassing over 5,600 total yards.

The Colts have been watching Leonard’s career since his time with the Blue Devils.

“We’ve been following him from Duke and then he goes to Notre Dame and has a lot of success,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard said. “Good to get him. He’s a good player, a good athlete. We think he’s got some upside. He’ll come in and compete.”

“I just think the athletic ability that he has at the quarterback position, what he was able to do at Notre Dame this year, leading them to the National Championship speaks volumes of the player and the competitor that he is. Just to add that depth in that room is big,” Steichen said.

Leonard joins Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones in that quarterback room.