Put another way, if ND was a championship level team from 2017-2020, then they would have either recruited a more naturally talented QB or done a better job at developing the more naturally talented QBs that were behind Book on the depth chart, namely Wimbush and Jurkovec. Is that not the point you're making?

pretty much perfectly describe the reigning champion and their QB situation?

I think Book could've switched places with Bennett as smoothly as a Back to the Future changing photograph. And I think he could've definitely AJ McCarron'd a built to win roster.

My recollection is that AJ McCarron was as highly recruited as an Alabama QB should be. He was limited only by Alabama's pound it style, not his physical abilities.

Good point about Stetson Bennett, but he might be the exception that proves the rule, as they say.

I guess you'll need to ask the OP what his point was because the grouping together of Crist, Book, and Pyne is confusing. Crist was a 5 star recruit who lost his starting job at 2 different schools. Book was a 3 star recruit who led his team to playoff appearances in 2 different seasons. And Pyne was a 4 star recruit who seems to have lower expectations than the supposedly less talented Book.

I for one am less willing to give Pyne a participation trophy for his efforts. He is a 4-star QB and I stand by my take last year that he should have started last year vs Cincinnati when our OL was unable to protect Coan. I am not as surprised as others when he plays well, and am as frustrated as everyone else with his inconsistency. His 8-2 record in games he started was the floor of my expectations given the talent of our running game and defense, the success we've had over the past 5 years, and the quality of our opponents (UNC, BYU, and Syracuse are not good teams, despite their inflated rankings on gameday, and Stanford sucked ass). Many teams have had success with backup QBs at ND and elsewhere, under good coaches and bad ones. Kevin McDougal in 1993, Matt Lovecchio in 2000, Tommy Rees for the last 4 games in 2010, Deshone Kizer in 2015, and Ian Book in 2018. Committing to a strong running game and defense is critical when a backup qb is pressed into service.

Stetson was the clean comparison I wanted to highlight.

With McCarron, very much agree that they had vastly different recruiting profiles. I only included him for the parallel that despite Book's beginnings, his body of work at ND indicated to me that he could have very likely served as AJ McCarron during Alabama's running offense days. And both college careers resulted in mid/late draft profiles, although as it stands, McCarron looks like he will have ended up with the more (relatively) meaningful pro career.

He was two personal fouls away from winning a playoff game. And a team even tried to trade for him to be their starter.

7 wins over ranked teams (excludes Wimbush’s win over Michigan in 2018), 5 total losses, 0 home losses, 0 losses against opponents outside top 20. The guy maximized his talent and opportunity.