NOLA Saints can’t depend on Ian Book as third-string QB option
The NOLA Saints have given Ian Book two preseason games to show that he’s capable of being an emergency quarterback option. He has not resembled anything close to that.
Fourth-round pick Ian Book wasn’t supposed to appear in any games during the 2021 season for the New Orleans Saints. He was a project quarterback that was supposed to be buried on the depth chart and not take a single meaningful snap.
Unfortunately, late in the 2021 season, the Saints were hit hard by positive COVID-19 cases and that paved the way to Book making his NFL debut and first-ever NFL start. It didn’t go well.
While Book wasn’t surrounded by great talent in that blowout loss to the Dolphins on Monday Night Football, he didn’t show much promise in that game. He was sacked eight times and failed to throw for a touchdown while tossing two picks. It wasn’t a good outing but it was hard to hold that game over his head too much considering the circumstances.
Saints obviously don't have to make this decision right away. But if they don't think Ian Book is game-ready this year, they'd have to consider Taysom Hill as the backup if either Winston or Dalton gets hurt. ... Or adding a veteran in-season like they did with Trevor Siemian.
— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) August 20, 2022
In the preseason, however, Book had a real chance to show some juice. Jameis Winston wasn’t going to play and Andy Dalton was limited in the first game. Book got to play the rest of the preseason opener and didn’t look great, throwing for 121 yards and an interception.
In the second preseason game, Book got to quarterback the offense for the entire game and struggled to look like a dependable quarterback. He did throw a nice touchdown pass to Chris Olave and showed some burst with his legs but a first-half fumble continued to show that he had trouble taking care of the football.
NOLA Saints might need to move on from Ian Book as a third-string option.
While Book wouldn’t be anything more than a third-string quarterback on this roster, we’ve seen third-string signal-callers get called up in the NFL. Heck, it happened to the Saints last year and that’s why we saw Book out there in the first place.
If both Winston and Dalton are unable to play in the regular season for whatever reason, Taysom Hill would be the better option to put under center than Book. He’s not going to be reliable if the team needs him to step into action.
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What do you think, Saints fans? Do you think Ian Book should continue to be the QB3?