On Monday night, former Notre Dame signal caller Ian Book lined up under center for his first-ever NFL start. Filling in for a decimated New Orleans Saints’ quarterback room, Book completed his first pass for four yards. His second was a pick six.
It would get worse from there for Book, who was sacked eight times behind a makeshift offensive line and failed to convert a third down all night. When the dust mercifully settled, however, there was one silver lining:
Book wasn’t alone, not amongst his Notre Dame peers at least.
Make no mistake, that’s not the sort of list you want to see your name on, but it also suggests the problem might not have been Book (or Klausen or Kizer or Quinn), but Notre Dame itself. Whether due to the academic/behavioral demands or just general incompetence, the Irish have been unable to recruit and, more importantly, develop elite quarterback talent in recent years. Brian Kelly is in Baton Rouge now, and maybe that will help, but the issues pre-date his tenure in South Bend. In fact, the last Notre Dame QB to experience prolonged success in the NFL is some fella named Montana. That was a long time ago.
Maybe Book, a fourth-round pick in the NFL Draft this May, is the guy to change all that, but he has a mountain to climb after Monday night. Last time we checked, they don’t have many mountains in Indiana.
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