SmashMouth

When they received the phone call letting them know they were selected in the NFL draft, a handful of players were surprised to see the 504 area code on the other end.

The New Orleans Saints mostly played things close to the vest. First-rounder Payton Turner said he didn’t put the Saints in his top three places he expected to go. Second-round linebacker Pete Werner said “being a Saint is everyone’s dream” coming out of Ohio State, but the way the pre-draft process played out was not keeping his hopes up.

"Not as much (contact with the Saints) as I would have thought going into this draft,” Werner said. “I never thought the Saints were going to be an option.”

Then there’s Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book, and his story is a little different. He met often with the Saints, and said he had a feeling this could have been a destination.




“We had good meetings over Zoom,” Book said. “And I was just crossing my fingers — really, hoping for any team — but this is just an unbelievable spot for me.”

The Saints selected Book No. 133 overall. He was the first true quarterback they’ve taken since they used a third-rounder on Garrett Grayson in 2015 (the team selected former Mississippi State quarterback Tommy Stevens last year, but quickly converted him to tight end).

There were a lot of things the Saints liked about Book. Coach Sean Payton said he was drawn to Book’s athleticism, accuracy and competitiveness. Book was often playing on a big stage because his Notre Dame teams went 30-5 in games he started, and that also worked in his favor.

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