At the annual The Echoes Banquet on Friday night, Notre Dame handed out their annual team awards. Earlier we mentioned that Chase Claypool was the resipiant of the Team MVP award and that we agreed with him getting it seeing as it felt like whenever a huge play was needed, he was called upon.
So assuredly, the Team MVP would be named the Offensive Player of the Year then, seeing as he is an offensive player, right?
Think again.
Ian Book was instead awarded the Offensive Player of the Year.
I guess there is logic in this but I never pretend to understand it.
Just like in the NFL when a player wins Offensive Player of the Year but then a different offensive player wins MVP. If he wasn’t the best offensive player then how is he MVP?
I have nothing against Ian Book and think he gets a raw deal from a certain percentage of the Notre Dame fan-base simply because he’s not Joe Burrow or Trevor Lawrence.
He’s the quarterback and when the going gets tough he’ll be called on to make a play or a read in order to get the ball in a play-makers hand. He isn’t perfect but he executes a lot more often than he doesn’t. That’s worthy of praise.
But wouldn’t the most valuable player on the entire team, who also happens to play offense, be the offensive player of the year by default?
With all of that said and I’m not trying to be funny when I say this, congrats to Ian Book for winning the award even if I think Chase Claypool wasn’t only the most valuable player on the team, but also the best and most valuable player on the offense.
With all that said, winning the award is a clear sign of the respect Book’s teammates and coaches have for him and there is no-doubt value in that, especially when you’re talking about a veteran starting quarterback.