Notre Dame QB Book most notable 4th-round selection
By the third day of the NFL draft, the big stars from college football already have been chosen. The fourth through seventh rounds will bring some starters and, once in a while, a great player.
Mostly, though, we’re talking backups or long shots.
Perhaps the best-known collegian selected in the fourth round Saturday was Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book.
And Book went somewhere with a QB opening: New Orleans, which saw career passing leader Drew Brees retire.
That doesn’t mean Book, the winningest quarterback in Notre Dame history, will be stepping in to the starting lineup in the Big Easy.
Indeed, he’s more likely to be a developmental project behind Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston.
Perhaps, however, it’s notable that the Buccaneers also selected a quarterback this year with their 40-something QB — that guy Brady — still around. Florida’s Kyle Trask went in the second round to Tampa Bay.
Book is known as a strong leader and good athlete. Does the ninth quarterback taken in 2021 have the arm and accuracy to make it behind center in the NFL? We’ll find out eventually.
Eventually, the 32 NFL teams might run out of prospects from the Southeastern Conference. There were 29 SEC players chosen through three rounds — 12 in the opening round — and eight more went in the fourth. That included three from Texas A&M, which finished fourth in the final AP poll: defensive tackle Bobby Brown III to the Rams, offensive lineman Dan Moore and linebacker Buddy Johnson to Pittsburgh.
Other notable selections were Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard to Carolina; Southern California defensive tackle Jay Tufele to Jacksonville to open proceedings Saturday, then teammate Amon-Ra St. Brown to Detroit. St. Brown’s brother Equanimeous plays for Green Bay and their father was a Mr. World.
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