Former Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard Makes NFL Debut with Colts

Anthony Richardson's dislocated pinky in the first quarter against Baltimore had a ripple effect, allowing former Notre Dame star Riley Leonard to play the entire second half on Thursday for the Colts. And as expected for a late-round pick, Leonard had his ups and downs after taking over for Daniel Jones.

#Colts Anthony Richardson - Dislocated pinky finger

Injury carries a risk of fracture, which would likely keep him out 4-6 weeks.

But most commonly, if no fracture, we would expect a relatively soon return without a performance dip by Week 1

pic.twitter.com/mAO9H8Tu96
— Deepak Chona, MD. SMA (@SportMDAnalysis) August 8, 2025

Leonard completed 12 of his 24 pass attempts for 92 yards and rushed for 34 yards on four carries in his NFL preseason debut. Leonard did lead the Colts to a touchdown in his second series but threw a pick, which led to a Ravens field goal in the fourth quarter, and failed to convert a fourth and five with less than 90 seconds left in the game.

Give Riley Leonard room to run and he will take it — and then some.

The rookie QB out of Notre Dame led a touchdown drive on the second possession of his preseason NFL career. pic.twitter.com/JePupSa1g6
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) August 8, 2025

Leonard made some nice plays in his debut, but he was inconsistent for the most part. However, with Richardson expected not to play the remainder of the preseason, Leonard should get a lot more playing time in the next two weeks and maybe earn the backup job for the Colts season opener against the Miami Dolphins.

Leonard essentially has no shot of beating out Jones for the starting job, and to be honest, he's a long shot to earn the backup job. Indianapolis has plenty of time to add a veteran backup before the regular season starts, and that's probably what the Colts are going to do.

As for who it might be, don't be surprised if the Colts reach out to PJ Walker. Walker is currently playing in the CFL with the Calgary Stampeders, but he signed with the Colts out of college and is 5-4 in nine career starts. Another name to keep an eye out for is Case Keenum. Keenum signed with the Bears this offseason, and if he doesn't beat out Tyson Bagent for the No. 2 job, the Bears could potentially shop him or grant him his release. Keenum is entering his 14th season and has 66 career starts.

Regardless of what Indianapolis does at the quarterback position over the next couple of weeks, expect Leonard to continue to play in the preseason.

And Leonard wasn't the only Notre Dame alum who played in the Colts preseason opener. Former Fighting Irish kicker Spencer Shrader made three of his four field goal attempts, including a 53-yarder to give Indianapolis an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter. Shrader did miss from 52, but still, three out of four isn't bad, including a 50 yarder. Shrader is penciled in as the Colts starting kicker after playing for three teams as a rookie last year -- Indianapolis, New York Jets, Kansas City -- and has a shot of starting the whole season after making all five of his field goals last year as a rookie.