Ian Book, Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images)
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Ian Book will play his senior season, instead of going into the 2020 NFL Draft. How will this help his draft stock?
Ian Book was the starting quarterback on an 11-2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, which played in the Camping World Bowl game. Notre Dame only lost two games this past season, which kept them out of national championship contention. How well does Book have to play to be drafted in 2021?
Well, his draft stock is low right now. Maybe part of it was the whole Brandon Wimbush situation, where he didn’t start over him in 2017, and Wimbush came into 2018 as the starter. This looks a lot like the Tom Brady situation in Michigan.
Tom Brady was clearly the better quarterback in college, but Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr wanted to start Drew Henson over Brady. Brian Kelly started Wimbush over Book in 2017 and the beginning of 2018. Book stole the job from Wimbush and hasn’t looked back since.
What does that show NFL coaches? Book has the mental toughness that it takes to be a quarterback at the next level. That is the same thing that Brady showed while in college at Michigan.
Another thing that shows Book is his commitment to team football while putting the team first. Book came into his junior season in 2018 as the backup quarterback and stayed when he easily could have transferred. Instead, he was a good backup quarterback, who supported Wimbush until he had his chance to start.
As a starter, Book is 21-3. He’s thrown a total of 57 touchdowns to just 17 interceptions. He’s also rushed for eight touchdowns in his collegiate career.
The numbers don’t lie, Book is a winner. Book currently is projected to be a late-round draft choice, with the highest I’ve seen is the fourth round. His only problem is, Notre Dame quarterbacks haven’t translated well to the NFL.
The two Notre Dame quarterbacks that made a name for themselves in the NFL were Joe Theismann and Joe Montana. The most recent Notre Dame quarterback draft pick, DeShone Kizer, is backing up Baker Mayfield in Cleveland.
If Book has another solid season, where he takes the team to another bowl game victory, or heck, even a National Championship, there’s a chance he can be drafted higher. He is a project quarterback, that would fit well with a team that is willing to let Book sit for a year or two.
I could see him having a solid senior season, where he jumps up people’s draft boards and finds himself a team in the NFL that will work with him as a project. If plugged into the right situation, he could be a starter in the NFL someday. Keyword, “right situation.”
