Is Chief Insane For Saying Ian Book Will Be In Heisman Contention At Season's End?

Okay so ND homer Chief was spewing typical his ND homer garbage on Red Line Radio this week saying Ian Book is going to be in the Heisman discussion at season’s end.

That, my friends, is pretty freaking outrageous.  Look, Ian Book is a really good QB.  Doesn’t make mistakes.  Manages the game as well as anybody and probably has an NFL career ahead of him as a long time backup or some better.  But that’s exactly what he is – a game manager.  Here are his stats from last year:

At face value, these are good stats, and they’d be even better if he had started every game, but he didn’t.  Brandon Wimbush started the first few games for them.  But even when he took over the keys to the starting gig, it’s not like he lit the world on fire like a Kyler Murray or Dewayne Haskins did.  He had 8.3 yards/ attempt.  Great number, good for 17th overall in the country.  Crazy high completion percentage too, good for 8th in the country. But he’s the least sexy QB like… ever.  Here’s his highlight reel with all 19 TD passes in it.

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It took until the 3 min mark for him to throw a deep ball for a touch down.  The rest of the high lights were dink and dunk passes where he found an open receiver, often times physical freak Miles Boykin, 10-15 yards past the LOS that often ended up going for long TDs.  His longest pass was 66 yards and it was on a screen pass.  He just doesn’t light it up the way you think a Heisman Trophy winner typically should.

Really good QB?  Yes, no arguing that.  Heisman QB?  No way.  He’s just too bland to be in that discussion, and that’s not a bad thing either, as he’s a perfect QB for ND right now.

Now if Chief’s argument was to bet Book because he’s +4000 then yes, bet that all day.  I do not think he’ll be in the Heisman discussion at season’s end, but he’s also the starting QB on the most televised team in the country, ND puts asses in seats and you can never say never, so there is really good value in +4000.  But he’s also +4000 for a reason, that the chances are slim to none that he winds up in NYC this winter.

I just do not see him having that Heisman moment.  The moment where it’s like “oh shit this dude’s a freak and the best player in the country”.  Jake Fromm, Tua, Lawrence, and even someone like Adrian Martinez will have “sexier” plays this season, for lack of a better term.  Book will win a shit ton of games by not screwing anything up.