Notre Dame football: Should Ian Book’s durability be a concern?

If Ian Book goes down, things could get dicey for Notre Dame football in 2019.

Last season, Ian Book raised the Irish offense to new heights. He took the Irish from being a good team, to an elite team. Now, entering the 2019 season, Book is expected to keep Notre Dame football playing at a top 10 level.

The only unfortunate effect of Book’s emergence is it that it led to former starter Brandon Wimbush to transfer out of Notre Dame. He did so to be able to compete for a starting job. It was the right thing for Wimbush to do. However, it left Notre Dame without experience behind Book at quarterback.

Assuming that Book stays healthy, the lack of experience behind him won’t be an issue. Book will start, and Notre Dame will have a strong offense throughout 2019.

That’s an ideal world for Notre Dame fans, but life isn’t ideal. It would have been ideal if Book didn’t get hurt last season, but he did get injured against Northwestern, and it forced him to miss the Florida State game. Luckily, there was a dependable player behind Book in Wimbush.

Wimbush took care of business, and the undefeated season marched on.

What if Wimbush had already left the program?

Notre Dame would have needed to rely on Phil Jurkovec. The young quarterback was highly touted coming out of high school, but has struggled during his time at Notre Dame.

Last season, Jurkovec would not have been ready to lead the Irish. This off-season, he’s done nothing to prove that he’s taken the next step forward. In his own words, Jurkovec’s spring game was, “Pretty terrible.”  No one who saw the game would disagree with that assessment, either.

Now, during summer practices, he’s been inconsistent at best. He’s had multiple interception practices. He’s also begun to look like a solid number 2 quarterback. Kelly credited Jurkovec for throwing the ball well downfield. 

In other words, it looks like Jurkovec is starting to develop for the future. He won’t, however, be ready to start this season. He’ll certainly struggle against top tier competition if Jurkovec needs to see action.

That’s concerning, given that Book is undersized, and has missed a game in the past due to an injury. Furthermore, Book’s style of play within the Irish offense leads to him running a lot. Book has designed runs and scrambles well. That’s part of what makes him special — his ability to accurately create.

However, like against Northwestern, this led to Book taking a lot of hits. Being a smaller player, this means he can more easily be injured. If Book gets hurt, the back-up plan of Jurkovec isn’t ready yet, and the entire Irish season will be derailed.