Greg McElroy Urges College Football Powerhouse to 'Unleash' Their Quarterback

ESPN analyst Greg McElroy recently spoke about the current state of a couple of powerhouse programs in college football.

Following a hectic Week 2 slate, McElroy was able to reveal an in-depth analysis, given multiple weeks of film.

On the "Always College Football" podcast, McElroy shared his thoughts on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish after they suffered a brutal loss to unranked Northern Illinois at home.

Despite having the easiest road to the College Football Playoff after defeating the Texas A&M Aggies in Week 1, the Irish put a halt to their national title hopes. They were near 30-point favorites against Northern Illinois and instead lost 16-14.

McElroy believes the biggest problem with Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame is their use of transfer quarterback Riley Leonard.

He thinks they're holding back Leonard, a player who made a name for himself as a dual-threat quarterback with the Duke Blue Devils.

McElroy believes Freeman and his staff are holding Leonard in the pocket, which isn't somewhere he thrives on the football field. He thinks they need to let Leonard run and have sets in the playbook for him to be "unleashed."

“I think he is a guy that needs to be unleashed, if you will," McElroy said. "I don’t care if you have to run it 15-20 times. If that’s what you got to do, that’s what you got to do, because I think that’s when he’s at his best.”

Leonard transferred from the Blue Devils after spending three years in Durham. His 2023 college football season was cut short, due to ankle and foot injuries.

In his best season as a full-time starter, 2022, Leonard notched 20 touchdowns and 2,967 passing yards with a 63.9 completion percentage.

On the ground in 2022 Leonard had 13 touchdowns and 699 yards.

As McElroy explained, that's the type of quarterback the Fighting Irish need in order to be successful. Leonard must be "unleashed" if Notre Dame wants to compete for a national title.

With the loss to the Huskies, Notre Dame fell from the No. 5 team in the country to No. 18.

They also helped Northern Illinois secure a spot in the Top 25 rankings. The Huskies are now listed as the No. 25 team in the nation after starting the year 2-0.

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