Notre Dame Football: Where Does Ian Book Rank Among College QBs?

Notre Dame football’s Ian Book came in at number 15 in Athlon Sports’ annual college quarterback rankings. Where does he stand among the nation’s top quarterbacks?

Ian Book’s first season as the starting quarterback for the Notre Dame football team may have ended on a bad note, but he has plenty to be proud of.

Book finished his 2018 campaign with 2,628 passing yards and 19 passing touchdowns. He also ended the year with a completion percentage of 68.2 percent.

While he is not a true dual-threat quarterback, Book kept defenses honest with his ability to run the ball. Last season he ran for 280 yards and four touchdowns.

All of those statistics, by the way, came from just nine starts. Book earned the starting job in week four and started every game after except for the senior day game against Florida State, which he missed due to injury.

Ian Book cordially introduced himself to the college football world in 2018. He did not really make a big splash, but he made his opponents notice. He got plenty of attention leading the Irish to an undefeated season and a College Football Playoff berth, but he was not putting up video game numbers.

Does his performance last year warrant a higher ranking on Athlon Sports’ list of top college quarterbacks? I think so.

I am not suggesting that Book deserves to be catapulted into the top five on this list. However, I think an argument can certainly be made for him to move up a few spots.

First, there are three quarterbacks ranked ahead of Book that do not play in one of the Power 5 conferences. Those quarterbacks are: Jordan Love (Utah State), Mason Fine (North Texas), and D’Eriq King (Houston).

All three of those guys are exceptional football players, but one could argue that Book should be ranked ahead of them based on quality of competition. In 2018, Notre Dame’s strength of schedule was ranked 49 spots ahead of Houston, 67 spots ahead of Utah State, and 69 spots ahead of North Texas.

Second, there are a couple of guys ranked ahead of of Book that had comparable or slightly worse statistics last season: Kellen Mond (ranked 13th), Adrian Martinez (ranked 9th), and Shea Patterson (ranked 7th).

Last season, Mond threw for 3,107 yards and 21 touchdowns. He also rushed for 474 yards and seven touchdowns. Those numbers are better than Book’s, but Mond started four more games than Book did in 2018.

Martinez finished the season with 2,617 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, 629 rushing yards, and 8 rushing touchdowns. Book is not the same kind of rushing threat, but he had more passing yards and passing touchdowns despite playing two fewer games.

Patterson, who was one of the biggest surprises on this list, threw for 2,600 yards and 22 touchdowns in 2018. He also rushed for 273 yards and two touchdowns that season. On the surface, those are fairly equal statistics. However, Patterson played in four more games than Book did last season.

Lastly, there is a player ranked ahead of Book who will be entering his first season as a starting quarterback in college football. That player is Justin Fields (ranked 8th), who transferred to Ohio State after last season.

Yes, Fields is an excellent football player. His ranking on this list, however, is based entirely on projection.

This past offseason, he had to learn a new offensive scheme, acclimate himself at a new school, and build chemistry with new teammates and coaches. One of those new coaches is a first-year head coach. Odds are that Fields will play well in 2019, but I think we could bump him down a few spots on this list.

Should Ian Book be ranked ahead of ALL of the players I mentioned? Probably not. But he could be ranked ahead of half of them – putting him on the cusp of the top ten.

Either way, Book is part of the top tier of college quarterbacks entering the 2019 season, and he has a chance to build upon his legacy.