Now that Drew Brees decided to push jeans full-time for a living, the New Orleans Saints are forced to move on to a new era at the quarterback position. In the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the franchise selected Ian book out of Notre Dame, hoping they found a guy who can sneakily transition into a franchise cornerstone.
It is, obviously, a huge leap to make claims on Book. He's not Justin Fields or some can't miss prospect. If he were, he wouldn't have seen 132 players get selected ahead of him. What he is, though, is talented. He's also a dude who is going to get hit with a ton of Brees comparisons; not just because he's playing for the Saints, but due to his stature, as he only stands an even six-feet.
At a prized program like Notre Dame, Book went 30-5 as a starter for the Fighting Irish. A bit inconsistent with his accuracy, Ian Book is far more mobile than given credit for, is one of the better “timing” passers coming into the league, and certainly has enough arm strength to develop into something special.
The headline suggests that “I know for sure” Ian Book is all that and a bag of potato chips. I don't, honestly. I'd prefer to hedge like hell while writing this. Book's chances to succeed in the NFL are a coin-flip; though they did improve dramatically when the team coached by Sean Payton selected him in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Plus, he has an outside chance to actually play, especially given the offseason that happened in New Orleans. As mentioned earlier, Brees hung it up. He ain't coming back. The other gunslingers who last touched footballs in Saints uniforms aren't exactly dudes the franchise seems all that committed to (random Hill tropes aside).
While not exactly gaudy numbers, in his last two seasons with the Fighting Irish, Book passed for 5,864 yards and ran for a combined 1,031 yards. He also tossed 49 touchdowns to just nine interceptions. All of that while being the dude other teams' defensive coordinators strategized to stop.
Admittedly hyperbolic in comparison, but it's similar to what happened to Zion Williamson when he was at Duke. Also still surrounded by professional-level players, other teams' goals were to “just stop Zion” and see where everything else went.
Book is not a Williamson type prospect. Need to note that as harshly as humanly possible. Still, he was always “up against it” at Notre Dame the same way Williamson was at Duke. It — admittedly, another long walk to get here — leads to the idea that Book is better than the stats and film paint him as, as he couldn't optimize his abilities since his ceiling was hindered by the above idea.
And, yes, all of this is mostly theoretical. Some serious brain theory/galaxy brain thinking is likely what's happening.
Nevertheless, the 2021 NFL Draft is over. The New Orleans Saints took a flyer on a young man out of Notre Dame. As a writer often tasked with creating bold takes, this might be my boldest yet, though it's one I firmly believe in. Ian Book — despite all the justifiable hangups people have on him — is the answer at quarterback for Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints.
I mean, that's mostly because if this were a multiple choice test, the other options are just that bad… but that's semantics.
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