Great point, happy to put him on the list because IW11 had a similar deal when coming in.
It's tough. Swanson seems much more likely to see that he is being passed by those younger than him and likely looks for a competition opportunity at a school like Tulsa or a MAC school.
Currently, Leary has a tough choice. Choice of a chance to start for one year at Illinois or two years at a lower-level program? The staff thinks he's progressed and is now firmly the #2 QB on the roster. His best opportunity could be to stay here and sit for one more year, but that would mean one year maximum as a starter. Let's assume Altmyer stays relatively healthy this year and next year, then Illinois has to enter the 2026 season with Leary as starter and he's only thrown limited career passes.
The other choice is to transfer. He's only thrown five career passes and wasn't a top QB recruit, so it would take a big leap from a coaching staff to bring him in as an expected starter. I can't envision a P4 program willing to take on that much risk, especially for a QB that has a max of two eligibility years. A MAC/C-USA program could be willing to take that leap, but even a program like that would want to hedge their bets and bring in a second QB that would compete. If he's wanting a chance at two years starting (who wouldn't), the best thing that could happen for Leary is Altmyer has a short-term injury and he gets a couple starts this year to show other programs what he's capable of.