New Orleans Saints select Notre Dame QB Ian Book in fourth round of NFL draft
Ian Book became just the second Notre Dame quarterback to be taken in the last 11 NFL drafts — second-rounder DeShone Kizer in 2017 is the other — when he was selected by the New Orleans Saints with the 133rd overall pick in Saturday's fourth round.
Book is the sixth Notre Dame player selected in this year's draft behind OT Liam Eichenberg (No. 42) to Miami, guard Aaron Banks (No. 48) to San Francisco, LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (No. 52) to Cleveland, TE Tommy Tremble (No. 83) to Carolina and OT Robert Hainsey (No. 95) to Tampa Bay.
It's a higher draft position for Book than many thought, as most draft analysts projected Book as a sixth or seventh round pick.
The 6-foot, 210-pound Book from El Dorado Hills, Calif., is the winningest QB in Irish history with 30 victories as a starter (Tom Clements, Ron Powlus and Brady Quinn each have 29).
Book arrived at Notre Dame with just a three-star rating but went on to set multiple career school records that include completion percentage (63.8) and lowest interception rate (1.8).
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He’s also second in both career passing yards (8,948) and career rushing yards by a quarterback (1,518), as well as third in career efficiency rating (147.0).
As a grad student in 2020, Book steered the Irish to a spot in the College Football Playoff for the second time in three years and a 10-2 record this past season, completing 228-of-353 passes for 2,830 yards with 15 touchdowns against just three picks. He also scampered for 485 yards and nine TDs.
In 2019, Book was chosen as 11-2 ND’s offensive player of the year. With 3,034 yards on 240-of-399 passing and 34 touchdowns against six picks to go with 546 ground yards, Book became the first-ever Irish QB to reach 2,500 pass yards, 500 rushing yards and 30 TD throws in the same year, and was one of just two FBS players to do so that season.
As a junior in 2018, Book hit on 214-of-314 passes for a Notre Dame single-season record of 68.2% as the Irish went 12-1 with a spot in the College Football Playoff. He fired 19 TD passes against seven interceptions on his way to 2,628 yards. Except for one brief relief appearance, his stats were compiled over just nine games, after he unseated Brandon Wimbush as the starter in Week 4. Book missed the Florida State game due to a rib injury.
In 2017, Book appeared in 10 games with one start while primarily backing up Wimbush.
Book saw no game action as a true freshman in 2016.
“The three things I want to show are leadership, accuracy and my play-making ability,” Book said just prior to Pro Day a few weeks ago. “Those are three things I pride myself on and think I can do pretty well, and can separate myself from some of the other quarterbacks.”
