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Notre Dame Football: The three most irreplaceable players on the Irish offense

By Mason Plummer

WINSTON SALEM, NC - SEPTEMBER 22: Jafar Armstrong #8 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish scores a touchdown against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during their game at BB&T Field on September 22, 2018 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
WINSTON SALEM, NC - SEPTEMBER 22: Jafar Armstrong #8 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish scores a touchdown against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during their game at BB&T Field on September 22, 2018 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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Ian Book

Notre Dame football
LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 24: Quarterback Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish throws a pass against the USC Trojans during the second half at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 24, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /

I knew it was coming, you knew it was coming, we all knew it was coming: Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book is absolutely irreplaceable to the Irish in 2019.

Unlike my Brandon Wimbush pick last season where Notre Dame sort-of knew what they had as Book in the backup quarterback role, Notre Dame essentially has no idea what they have at QB2.

Phil Jurkovec, the probable backup, came into Notre Dame as a highly-touted recruit but has little to show for it. Jurkovec redshirted last season, only making appearances against Florida State and Wake Forest.

Jurkovec has not really looked himself at Notre Dame and that was put on display in the Blue & Gold game this spring. Jurkovec was sacked over a dozen times in the game and looked very uncomfortable. He will likely be who Notre Dame looks to if something were to happen to Book, but another option is freshman Brendan Clark. In short, however, it seems pretty clear that Jurkovec is not ready to be the quarterback.

Clark has impressed the coaching staff and if Jurkovec continues to struggle at Notre Dame, it should not come as a surprise if Clark gets the nod for the backup role. Regardless, Notre Dame needs to hope that Book remains healthy in 2019.

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