The nonsensical drool the author of the article was trying to make is that high talent players who should play are being purposely held back their freshman year to save a year of eligibility. That doesn't even remotely apply to Book. He was not purposely "held back" from playing to save a year. It would have taken a event of biblical proportions for him to play. Book's qb room his freshman year was Kizer, Zaire and Wimbush.
Book was an afterthought to the team in terms of "every year you take a qb." He flipped to ND from Washington State late in the process after ND lost it's big qb target ( I forget the name) and because of the relationship he built with Mike Sanford when he was coaching on the west coast. Nobody ever thought Book would ever be a starter. In current terms, think Powlus III.