Notre Dame football: PFF low on Jack Coan heading into 2021
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football program is likely replacing Ian Book with Jack Coan in 2021, and Pro Football Focus has him ranked outside of the top-25.
Replacing the all-time winningest quarterback in program history is not going to be easy for the Notre Dame football program. During his time as the starter in South Bend, Ian Book was an absolute winner, leading the team to two College Football Playoffs, and parlaying his career into being a fourth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
As the Irish move on, they will likely turn to Jack Coan, a former starting quarterback for the Wisconsin Badgers. Coan is more a game-manager than Book was, but he is also very accurate, and careful with the ball, two things that will play huge for this team in 2021.
However, despite his success at Wisconsin, most national media are not high on him.
Recently, Anthony Treash put together a list ranking all 130 starting quarterbacks in college football heading into 2021, and you had to scroll a bit to find Jack Coan’s name. In fact, Treash has Coan as the 32nd ranked signal-caller going into the Fall, a mark a bit low considering he has led a team to a Big Ten title game before.
A few weeks back, the Sporting News put together a list of the top-25 quarterbacks in 2021, and Coan was nowhere to be found as well.
Notre Dame football to take on two of the top-10 quarterbacks
Looking at the list put out by PFF, the Irish will be battling it out against two of the top-10 quarterbacks in the country, as they take on UNC’s Sam Howell, and USC’s Kedon Slovis. In fact, the Notre Dame defense will take on these two in back-to-back games, though both will be played inside Notre Dame Stadium.
Notre Dame will kick off their season against the No. 16-ranked quarterback in McKenzie Milton, as well as going on the road to take on the No. 18-ranked signal-caller, Brennan Armstrong and the University of Virginia. Coan’s old team, and the man who replaced him, Graham Mertz comes in at No. 26, with former Irish quarterback, and current B.C. signal-caller Phil Jurkovec at No. 30.
As for Coan, while he may not put up incredible statistics that jump off the page, he does not turn the ball over, and is great at putting his elite playmakers in a position to make big plays. Notre Dame football does not need Coan to throw for 3,000 yards in 2021, but if he can take care of the ball, and the defense is what it is supposed to be, he will be as valuable to his team as any player above him on this list.