The college football transfer portal chaos continued to bleed into Wednesday afternoon as Duke quarterback Riley Leonard announced that he’d be entering his name into the transfer portal with one year of eligibility remaining.

And since announcing his decision to transfer on his personal Instagram account, preliminary reports have already pinned Auburn and Notre Dame as the early favorites to land Leonard.

Pete Nakos of On3.com reported that both Auburn and Notre Dame could be destinations of note for Leonard.

“The Fighting Irish want to add a quarterback,” Nakos wrote Wednesday. “An Alabama native, playing in the SEC would be attractive. An official timetable has not been set yet by Leonard’s camp, but he is expected to take official visits.”

One interesting detail about Leonard’s announcement is the fact that he entered the portal with a “do not contact” tag, indicating that interested schools can’t reach out to the soon-to-be-former Duke quarterback on their own volition. This likely hints at the fact that Leonard already has a shortlist of destinations mapped out.

Before enrolling at Duke, Leonard was rated a 3-star prospect out of Fairhope High School. Leonard went on to commit to the Blue Devils after receiving offers from the likes of Ole Miss, Nebraska, Tulane and Vanderbilt, among others. Leonard was never offered by Bryan Harsin’s staff at Auburn.

Last season, Leonard started all 13 games for the Blue Devils and threw for 2,967 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions on 63.8% passing. He added another 699 yards and 13 touchdowns with his legs in 2022.

This past season, Leonard played in seven games before being sidelined with a toe injury. Through those seven games, Leonard tallied 1,102 passing yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions on 57.6% passing. He added 352 yards and four touchdowns on the ground this fall.

While Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze hasn’t indicated that he and the Tigers are in the market for another quarterback, he hasn’t indicated the alternative, either.

As it currently sits, Auburn’s quarterback room in 2024 is set to feature Robby Ashford, Jackson Barkley, Hank Brown, Holden Geriner, John Colvin, Holden Geriner, Sawyer Pate and Payton Thorne. The Tigers are also expected to welcome 4-star quarterback commit Walker White to The Plains.

As many recall, Auburn’s quarterback situation was a bit of a doozy during the regular season this fall as Thorne and Ashford split snaps in the front half of the season.

Towards the back half of the season, Thorne reasserted himself as the Tigers’ starter — a distinction he initially earned in fall camp.

Thorne finished his season having passed for 1,671 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions through 12 games — all while completing 62.3% of his passes.

Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall, who reportedly had mutual interested in transferring to Auburn last year, also announced his intentions to transfer on Wednesday.

The transfer portal officially opens for business on Dec. 4 and will remain open until Jan. 2.