Riley Leonard transfer portal rumors: 3 best destinations for Duke QB
Riley Leonard is the latest quarterback to put his name in the transfer portal as college football's wild offseason is already getting underway before conference championship games have even been played.
The Duke quarterback now joins the likes of Will Rogers, Grayson McCall, Tyler Van Dyke, Will Howard, KJ Jefferson and many others in the transfer portal. However, one could argue that Leonard might be the most enticing quarterback prospect of the bunch. With how he elevated the Duke Blue Devils offense the past two years when healthy combined with his obvious talent as both a passer and runner, he could be a legitimate game-changer in the transfer portal for the right program.
With Leonard, he could likely have his pick of wherever he wants to go in the transfer portal. And in fact, he may already have his pick. Reports indicate that he has a "no contact" attached to his entry into the portal, which may mean he already knows where he wants to go or is going.
Having said that, we can still talk about where that might be. And reading the room, these three places would make a ton of sense and be great fits for Riley Leonard in the transfer portal.
3. Texas A&M Aggies
It wouldn't be the first time that we've seen a college football quarterback follow his head coach to a new home, so we have to mention the Texas A&M Aggies, who just hired former Duke head coach Mike Elko, as their replacement for Jimbo Fisher.
Elko was not part of Leonard's recruitment as the quarterback committed and signed in 2021 before Elko arrived in Durham the following year. However, the now Aggies head coach was overseeing the quarterback's development over the past two seasons, so the two are surely intimately familiar with one another.
Furthermore, if Elko can accomplish the unwieldy task of keeping some of Texas A&M's high-profile recruits from the past few years in the program, Evan Stewart chief among them, then perhaps we could see even more from Leonard unlocked in this offense and, in turn, more unlocked from the Aggies offense as well in Elko's first year as the head coach.
Having said that, Conner Weigman is the complicating factor here. While A&M struggled mightily down the stretch, the offense seemed to be trending up when the former 5-star recruit was at the helm of the offense before going down with an injury.
Would Elko and the Aggies want to push Weigman out in favor of Leonard? That's the big-time question to answer here, but the Duke connection surely makes Texas A&M a worthwhile consideration.