Ian Book’s preseason praise keeps growing.
Book was ranked as the No. 5 quarterback in college football on Sporting News’ list of the top 25 players at the position heading into the 2020 season, compiled by college football writer Bill Bender.
“Book opted to return for his senior season, and he will add to his total of 57 career touchdowns with the Irish,” Bender wrote, “Book is 20-3 as a starter, a record that is underappreciated given the pressure of playing that position at Notre Dame under Brian Kelly.”
Landing that high isn’t exactly surprising. Book has been in or just outside the top 10 in early 2020 Heisman odds. He is returning for this third year as a starter at Notre Dame when Notre Dame is expected to be a nationally relevant team and a threat to win 10 games once again. He threw the most touchdown passes (34) in a single season from a Notre Dame quarterback since Brady Quinn in 2006.
Those 57 career touchdown throws are sixth among active college football players, behind UCF’s McKenzie Milton (72), Texas’ Sam Ehlinger (68), Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence (66), SMU’s Shane Buchele (64) and Memphis’ Brady White (61). Every one of those quarterbacks appeared on Sporting News’ list, and Book is ahead of all but Ehlinger and Lawrence. Of that group, only Lawrence has thrown fewer interceptions than Book’s 17.
Even though few active quarterbacks can match his career production, 2020 feels like a year where Book still has something to prove or another level everyone — including himself — feels he can reach.
There were a few regression signs. Book’s completion percentage went down by eight points. He did not impress in Notre Dame lost its two highest-profile games last year and had four games with a Pro Football Focus grade below 60. There were plays he left on the field. He’s considered at best a late-round draft pick right now.
Any ranking of college quarterbacks could reasonably move Book down a few spots. There’s also a case to put him in the top five. It depends what you look at and what you value.
Book has 6,118 career yards, eight rushing touchdowns and has completed 63.5 percent of his throws on 7.8 yards per attempt. He had the second-lowest sack rate (9.3 percent) of all qualified quarterbacks last year, according to Sports Info Solutions. Pro Football Focus gave him a 77.9 passing grade in 2019.
Here is a quick rundown of the rest of the quarterbacks in the top 10 of Sporting News’ list and how Book compares to each. It’s worth noting Book has faced three of the top 10 quarterbacks in Sporting News’ rankings and four of the top 20 head-to-head. Notre Dame won all four games. Lawrence will be added to the list this year when Clemson plays the Fighting Irish in November.
Book is also one of 11 quarterbacks in Sporting News’ top 25 with at least two years’ starting experience.
Trevor Lawrence (No. 1)
Career numbers: 6,945 yards, 65.6 completion percentage, 66 TD, 12 INT and 8.6 YPA, plus 728 yards and 10 TD rushing
2019 PFF grade: 91.0 overall
Class: Junior
Starts: 26
Lawrence has lost one game in his two years as Clemson’s starter — the 2020 national championship game versus LSU.
Justin Fields, Ohio State (No. 2)
Career numbers: 3,601 yards, 67.4 completion percentage, 45 TD, 3 INT and 9.2 YPA, plus 750 yards, and 14 TD rushing
2019 PFF grade: 91.5
Class: Junior
Starts: 14
Fields transferred from Georgia and led the country with a 41-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio in 2019.
Sam Howell, North Carolina (No. 3)
Career numbers: 3,641 yards, 61.4 completion percentage, 38 TD, 7 INT and 8.6 YPA, plus 1 rushing TD
2019 PFF grade: 83.9
Class: Sophomore
Starts: 13
Howell won UNC’s job out of camp and set the NCAA true freshman record with 38 touchdown passes.
Sam Ehlinger (No. 4)
Career numbers: 8,870 yards, 63.2 completion percentage, 68 TD, 22 INT and 8.0 YPA, plus 1,526 yards and 25 TD rushing
2019 PFF grade: 90.1
Class: Senior
Starts: 33
Ehlinger has been a starter since his freshman season and is the only player on the list with at least 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards.
Kedon Slovis, USC (No. 6)
Career numbers: 3,502 yards, 71.9 completion percentage, 30 TD, 9 INT and 8.9 YPA
2019 PFF grade: 78.8
Class: Sophomore
Starts: 11
Slovis slid into USC’s starting role as a freshman in mid-September and excelled. His emergence was one reason former five-star recruit JT Daniels entered the transfer portal.
Jayden Daniels, Arizona State (No. 7)
Career numbers: 2,943 yards, completion percentage, 17 TD, 2 INT and 8.7 YPA, plus 355 yards and 2 TD rushing
2019 PFF grade: 66.7
Class: Sophomore
Starts: 12
Daniels was a top-60 recruit who won Arizona State’s job as a true freshman. He helped engineer an upset of Pac-12 champion Oregon.
Brock Purdy, Iowa State (No. 8)
Career numbers: 6,232 yards, 65.9 completion percentage, 43 TD, 16 INT and 9.0 YPA, plus 557 yards and 13 TD rushing
2019 PFF grade: 79.4
Class: Junior
Starts: 21
Purdy grabbed hold of the starting job halfway through his freshman season in 2018 and has kept it ever since. He holds 18 school records.
Tanner Morgan, Minnesota (No. 9)
Career numbers: 4,654 yards, 63.6 completion percentage, 39 TD, 13 INT and 9.9 YPA, plus 2 TD rushing
2019 PFF grade: 85.5
Class: Redshirt junior
Starts: 19
Morgan helped Minnesota go 11-2 and lift its offense from middling to No. 21 in points per game. He had perhaps the best season (30 TD, 7 INT and 10.2 YPA) by a Minnesota quarterback.
Jamie Newman, Georgia (No. 10)
Career numbers: 3,959 yards, 60.5 completion percentage, 35 TD, 16 INT and 7.8 YPA, plus 826 yards and 10 TD rushing
2019 PFF grade: 85.5
Class: Fifth-year senior
Starts: 16
Newman — a graduate transfer from Wake Forest — totaled 32 touchdowns in 2019, but posted three games with a PFF grade below 60.
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