Was Brady Quinn or Ian Book the Better Notre Dame Quarterback?

Who was the better Notre Dame quarterback: Brady Quinn or Ian Book?

Here is the argument for both former Fighting Irish signal callers.

QUINN IS BETTER

The Dublin, Ohio product holds 30 Notre Dame records and twice finished in the top four in the Heisman voting. The 6-foot-3, 236 pound, two-time All-American led Notre Dame out of the Tyrone Willingham abyss and brought the Irish back into the national conversation in both 2005 and 2006.

Quinn, a two-time captain, was selected as the 22nd overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. He was the first Irish quarterback selected in the first round since Rick Mirer in 1993.

BOOK IS BETTER

To make this argument, I have to compare equal opportunity.

Quinn got 3,238 offensive snaps with the 2003-06 Irish. Book, a 6-foot, 203 pound product from El Dorado Hills, Calif., had just 2,464 with the 2016-2020 version.

So let’s compare where each quarterback was through his first 2,464 snaps:

Passing statistics

• Book: 728 for 1,141 (63.8 percent), 12.3 yards per completion, 7.8 yards per attempt, 72 touchdowns, 146.9 passer rating, 42.1 percent third-down conversions (by pass)
• Quinn: 665 for 1,173 (56.7 percent), 12.9 yards per completion, 7.3 yards per attempt, 58 touchdowns, 129.0 passer rating, 35.9 percent third-down conversions (by pass)

Yards per quarterback run (excluding sacks)

• Book: 303 attempts for 1,837 yards (6.1 yards per attempt)
• Quinn: 121 for 495 (4.1 yards per attempt)

Explosive plays

• Book: 139 passing plays that yielded 20 or more yards, 44 runs by Book that yielded 12 or more yards; 183 total explosive plays by the QB’s arms or legs
• Quinn: 114 passing plays that yielded 20 or more yards, 13 runs by Quinn that yielded 12 or more yards; 127 total explosive plays by the QB’s arms or legs

Miscues

• Book: 20 interceptions, 10 fumbles (5 lost), 58 sacks, 83 negative yardage plays by the QB
• Quinn: 32 interceptions, 12 fumbles (3 lost), 60 sacks, 73 negative yardage plays by the QB

REBUTTAL FOR QUINN

If you believe Quinn is better, you’re probably think it’s dirty pool to compare Brady’s first three years to Book’s four years.

Here are the snaps by age, to further emphasize your point:

So let’s look at each quarterback at age 21, since that seems to be the fairest comparison. (This would be the 2004 Tennessee game through the 2005 BYU game for Quinn, and the 2019 season for Book):

Passing statistics

• Book: 240 for 399 (60.2 percent), 12.6 yards per completion, 7.6 yards per attempt, 34 touchdowns, 149.2 passer rating, 35.2 percent third down conversions (by pass)
• Quinn: 235 for 372 (63.2 percent), 12.9 yards per completion, 8.2 yards per attempt, 27 touchdowns, 152.1 passer rating, 41.3 percent third down conversions (by pass)

Yards per quarterback run (excluding sacks)

• Book: 99 attempts for 611 yards (6.2 yards per attempt)
• Quinn: 46 for 235 (5.1 yards per attempt)

Explosive plays

• Book: 48 passing plays that yielded 20 or more yards, 15 runs by Book that yielded 12 or more yards; 63 total explosive plays by the QB’s arms or legs
• Quinn: 38 passing plays that yielded 20 or more yards, 5 runs by Quinn that yielded 12 or more yards; 43 total explosive plays by the QB’s arms or legs

Miscues

• Book: 6 interceptions, 2 fumbles (1 lost), 13 sacks, 22 negative yardage plays by the QB
• Quinn: 7 interceptions, 3 fumbles (0 lost), 20 sacks, 23 negative yardage plays by the QB

REBUTTAL TO THE REBUTTAL

This argument is a hypothetical. Quinn got 774 more snaps than Book in his Notre Dame career. So what would Ian’s career numbers look like if he put up Brady’s exact numbers from snaps 2,465 to 3,238?

• Pass attempts: 1,570 (would be second all-time behind Quinn)
• Pass completions: 994 (would be first all-time)
• Consecutive games completing a pass: 50 (would be first all time)
• Passing yards: 12,116 (would be first all-time)
• 300-yard passing games: 12 (would be first all time)
• Touchdowns passes: 109 (would be first all-time)
• Total offense yards: 20,021 (would be first all-time)
• 200-yard total offense games - career: 41 (would be first all-time)
• Completion percentage (minimum 150 attempts): 63.3 percent (already first)
• Lowest interception percentage: 1.7 percent (already first)

Book overtakes Quinn in at least seven categories if he plays Quinn-esque in a sixth year.

ANOTHER ARGUMENT FOR QUINN

Quinn is currently 45th on the all-time NCAA list for career passing yards, but 31 of the individuals ahead of him played had a college career after 2006.

“From 2009-16, FBS scoring, total yards, rushing yards, passing yards and plays increased by the highest percentage over an eight-year period since the 1960s. It’s worth noting that total yards per play (a record 5.83) was up 4 percent from 2009 — nearly the same rate as 2001-08 and in line with other eight-year intervals,” wrote CBS Sports’ Jon Solomon in 2017.

When Quinn finished fourth in the Heisman voting in 2005, he was fifth in the nation in completions, eighth in attempts and yards per attempt, 11th in completion percentage, third in yards and touchdowns, sixth in adjusted yards per attempt, 74th in interceptions and seventh in passer rate.

In 2019, Book was 34th in completions, 31st in attempts, 64th in completion percentage, 35th in yards, 54th in yards per attempt, 24th in adjusted yards per attempt, sixth in touchdowns, 73rd in interceptions and 25th in passer rate. Quinn’s 2005 numbers — placed into 2019 — would have been 11th, 13th, 23rd, 8th, 14th, 12th, 10th, 57th and 13th in those respective categories.

AND ANOTHER FOR BOOK

Against teams that finished in the Associated Press Top 25, and for their careers:

Passing statistics

• Book: 223 for 364 (61.3 percent), 12 yards per completion, 7.3 yards per attempt, 16 touchdowns, 133.6 passer rating, 38.5 percent third down conversions (by pass)
• Quinn: 284 for 550 (51.6 percent), 11.2 yards per completion, 5.8 yards per attempt, 22 touchdowns, 105.7 passer rating.

Yards per quarterback run (excluding sacks)

• Book: 91 attempts for 501 yards (5.5 yards per attempt)
• Quinn: 60 for 311 (5.2 yards per attempt)

Explosive plays

• Book: 39 passing plays that yielded 20 or more yards, 9 runs by Book that yielded 12 or more yards; 48 total explosive plays by the QB’s arms or legs
• Quinn: 40 passing plays that yielded 20 or more yards, 6 runs by Quinn that yielded 12 or more yards; 46 total explosive plays by the QB’s arms or legs

Miscues

• Book: 7 interceptions, 5 fumbles (3 lost), 24 sacks, 31 negative yardage plays by the QB
• Quinn: 21 interceptions, 5 fumbles (3 lost), 30sacks, 34 negative yardage plays by the QB

Now that you’ve read the arguments for both men, let’s ask again: