Riley Leonard has Notre Dame on the cusp of its first national championship in 36 years. A former star at Fairhope High School near Mobile, Leonard quarterbacked the Fighting Irish to a 27-24 victory over Penn State in the Orange Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal game on Thursday night.

Leonard would be learning behind Josh Allen, but the quarterback may face an uphill battle to win the backup gig. The Bills current QB2 Mitch Trubisky's two-year, $5.2 million contract runs through the 2025 season and would likely be the favorite to retain the backup job over Leonard.

If an NFL team does select Leonard in April, he’d likely be viewed as a developmental prospect or depth option rather than as an immediate starter. Other draft ‘big boards ’ do have Leonard as a lower ranked draft prospect and rate him as a projected sixth round pick.