Saints QB Depth Chart: Ian Book expected to start against Dolphins with Taysom Hill, Trevor Siemian on COVID roster
The Saints have started three different midfielders this season. Rookie Ian Book will likely be on “Monday Night Football” with the Dolphins.
Ahead of New Orleans’ Week 16 clash with Miami, the Saints are dealing with a COVID outbreak in the midfield. Back-up midfielder Trevor Siemian made the COVID list and shortly after, current starter Taysom Hill ended there as well.
As a result, the Saints will have to roll with the Book unless Siemian or Hill can clear the NFL’s COVID testing protocols before Monday night’s game.
Luckily, the Saints are one of the few teams in the NFL that actually have a quality fourth quarterback pick. They carried four defenders for most of the season before Jameis Winston suffered a season-ending ACL tear. Since then, they have brought three.
Below is the Saints QB depth chart for Week 16, which looks thin and unproven.
NFL COVID TRACKING: Who was on the COVID list before Week 16?
Saints . QB depth chart
1. Book of Ian
Welcome to the NFL. Notre Dame’s 2021 fourth-round pick has been out of action in all of his rookie season games. Now, he will be thrown into the fire as a starter against a tough defense of the Dolphins.
Book, 23, had a good career at Notre Dame. He started three years and was an effective game manager for Fighting Irish. He’s not the biggest player in the world at 6-0, 211 pounds, but he was a precise passer who completed 63.8% of his teammates’ passes in 8,948 yards. , 72 touchdowns and just 20 interceptions. He also has good mobility and is contested for 1,517 yards and 17 touchdowns. Book owns the school record to win at QB (30).
Book played in one of the Saints’ two pre-season games – their third was canceled due to storms – and completed nine of 16 126-yard passes and one interception.
THAN: Joe Burrow has a hilarious theory on why Bengalis avoided the COVID outbreak
2. Blake Bortles
The Saints had to scramble to find a backup behind the Book with Hill and Siemian in COVID protocol. They turned to Blake Bortles as a short-term replacement.
Bortles was a free agent before signing with the Saints and is arguably the best full-back available on the thin free-agent market. The 29-year-old started his career with the Jaguars and helped lead them to the AFC Championship Game, but his inconsistent play and revenue troubles proved the cost. So they moved in from him just five seasons after making him the number 3 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
Bortles hasn’t made a single pass since 2019, when he completed 1 of 2 passes with the Rams in 3 yards. He’s joined the Rams, Broncos and Packers over the past few seasons and was a substitute for Jordan Love after Aaron Rodgers and Kurt Benkert were both shortlisted for COVID for Green Bay earlier this year.
Although Bortles hasn’t played much in recent years, he has made 73 career starts. So he has experience that will prove valuable in the event that he gets to work.
NFL PICKS WEEK 16: Fight the contagion | Straight
Who is the Saints emergency midfielder?
The Saints have much-received Malcolm Perry in their practice squad, so he’ll likely be the emergency full-back. Perry played quarterback in the Navy and effectively ran a three-man selection. If it happens to it, he will likely be the Saints’ emergency quarterback. However, he won’t be used as a primary backup, as the Saints will want to avoid a Kendall Hinton-type situation.
