LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier (18) passes the ball during a college football game between Ole Miss and LSU at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025.
Garrett Nussmeier QB LSU |
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
| Jersey: #18 PLAY STYLE: Pocket Passer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated: 02/06/2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Year: 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FORTY time: 4.82 seconds (52%*) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Age: 24.5 DOB: 02/06/2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowl Invite: Senior Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
SHARE THIS PROFILE:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jersey: #18 | |
| PLAY STYLE: Pocket Passer | |
| Last Updated: 02/06/2026 | |
| Draft Year: 2026 | |
| Forty time: 4.82 seconds (52%*) | |
| Age: 24.5 DOB: 02/06/2002 | |
| Bowl Invite: Senior Bowl | |
|
SHARE THIS PROFILE:
|
| Overall Rating: | 84.8 / 100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Average rating of opposition Defense player has faced | ||
| Defense Rating: |
|
82% |
| Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects. | ||
| Release Speed: |
|
92% |
| Short Passing: |
|
76% |
| Medium Passing: |
|
83% |
| Long Passing: |
|
93% |
| Rush/Scramble: |
|
66% |
|
DRAFT PROJECTION:
3rd
Overall Rank:
#72
Position rank:
#3 (QB)
|
||
| College Games: 38 College Snaps: 1867 | ||
ESPN RATING: 86/100
College Combine Results
|
||
|
247 RATING: 96/100
|
||
|
RIVALS RATING: 5.9 (97%)
|
||
| Player Comparison* (Similarity level) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Quinn Ewers - Texas |
|
92% |
| Dillon Gabriel - Oregon |
|
79% |
| Bo Nix - Oregon |
|
76% |
Drafted: ROUND: 7 - Pick Number: 249 (KC)
Draft Profile: Bio
Garrett Nussmeier arrived in Baton Rouge as a four-star recruit in the spring of 2021, graduating high school early to begin his LSU career. The son of longtime NFL quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier, Garrett accumulated 8,160 passing yards and 83 touchdowns across his Texas high school career while completing 66% of his attempts with just 20 interceptions. He earned Texas District 6-6A MVP honors in 2019 and was selected to the 2020 Under Armour All-American Game. Growing up in a football family, Nussmeier spent parts of his childhood in Tuscaloosa and Gainesville as his father coached at various stops, giving him an intimate understanding of the quarterback position from an early age.After spending three seasons as a backup, Nussmeier burst onto the national stage in the 2023 ReliaQuest Bowl, replacing departed Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and throwing for 395 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-31 victory over Wisconsin. His 98-yard game-winning drive in the fourth quarter showcased both his arm talent and composure, earning him bowl MVP honors in his first collegiate start. The 2024 season saw Nussmeier claim the starting role full-time, and he delivered the most prolific first-year starting campaign in LSU history with 4,052 passing yards, 29 touchdowns, and 337 completions across 13 starts. He engineered dramatic fourth-quarter comebacks against South Carolina and Ole Miss, with the latter featuring clutch fourth-down conversions and a game-tying touchdown with 27 seconds remaining before delivering the overtime winner. Despite playing through a shoulder injury against Oklahoma, Nussmeier led the Tigers to a 9-4 record and claimed his second bowl MVP trophy in the Texas Bowl.
The 2025 season became a medical nightmare that derailed what should have been his Heisman campaign. An abdominal injury that was initially misdiagnosed by LSU's medical staff plagued Nussmeier from the opening kickoff, severely limiting his mobility and throwing mechanics throughout the year. He gutted through nine games, completing 67.4% of his passes for 1,927 yards with 12 touchdowns and five interceptions before finally being shut down. LSU stumbled to a 7-6 record, head coach Brian Kelly was fired, and Nussmeier watched his draft stock crater from potential top-10 selection to mid-round projection. The injury wasn't properly diagnosed until two months after the season ended, explaining the prolonged struggle and ineffectiveness that confused scouts all fall. At the Senior Bowl, a healthy Nussmeier reminded everyone why he generated first-round buzz, dominating practice sessions and earning game MVP honors.
Scouting Report: Strengths
- Can really spin it when he wants to, driving the ball down the field with effortless velocity that arrives in a hurry and challenges corners at every level without needing to wind up.
- Shows you some real touch on intermediate throws, dropping balls over the second level and fitting passes between zones with the kind of feel that translates to Sundays.
- Gets rid of it fast when his first read is there, particularly in the quick game where he's releasing with timing and putting stress on defenders before they can react to route combinations.
- Plays with legitimate fire and his teammates respond to it, rallying around him in tough moments and feeding off the competitive edge he brings when games get tight late.
- Throws it clean on the move, keeping his base under him and maintaining accuracy when working off platform or rolling to either side of the formation.
- Can manipulate arm angles when things break down, finding throwing lanes with different release points and keeping his eyes downfield when most guys would tuck it and run.
- Understands ball placement down the field, putting throws on his receiver's frame away from defenders and giving his guys chances to go make plays on contested targets.
- Command at the line of scrimmage reflects his pedigree, recognizing fronts and making protection calls with the kind of pre-snap awareness you don't see from most college quarterbacks.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
- Build is concerning at just over 200 pounds, and watching him take hits in SEC play raises real questions about whether that frame holds up over a 17-game NFL season plus playoffs.
- Gets married to his first read too often, locking onto targets and missing open checkdowns or failing to work through progressions with the discipline you need at the next level.
- Gambler mentality takes over when he's hunting the big play, forcing balls into tight windows instead of taking what the defense gives him and living to see another down.
- Can be fooled by post-snap disguises, particularly when defenses show one look before the snap and rotate into different coverage after, leading to late throws into bad spots.
- Pocket movement isn't always clean, sometimes drifting into trouble instead of finding the escape lane, and his internal clock can get jumpy when he's working past his initial progression.
Scouting Report: Summary
The abdominal injury that wrecked Nussmeier's 2025 season makes evaluation tricky, but the Senior Bowl performance confirmed what the 2024 tape suggested: this kid can spin it. When healthy, he's got legitimate NFL starter tools with an arm that checks every velocity and placement box required at the next level. The processing speed flashes in spurts, particularly when his first option is there, and the competitive makeup is exactly what you want from your franchise quarterback. He'll stand in the pocket and take hits to deliver the ball, he'll fight through adversity, and he commands respect from his teammates. Those intangibles matter.The elephant in the room is that 202-pound frame. It's not just about the number on the scale, it's about how he carries it and whether that build can withstand the weekly punishment of an NFL season. The injury history over his final two years at LSU isn't encouraging, and scouts who saw him in person at the Senior Bowl consistently noted he looks smaller than his listed measurements. In a league where 300-pound edge rushers run 4.5 forties and interior defenders routinely collapse pockets, Nussmeier's body type raises red flags about longevity. He'll need to play in a system that prioritizes quick game concepts, play-action designs, and movement-based passing to minimize the hits he takes. West Coast or Kyle Shanahan-style offenses that emphasize rhythm throws and bootlegs would maximize his skill set while protecting his frame. Asking him to operate a traditional drop-back passing attack where he's absorbing punishment play after play seems like a recipe for disaster.
The decision-making and progression reading need work, but those are coachable issues that improve with NFL-level quarterback coaching and simplified game plans early in a career. What you can't coach is arm talent, and Nussmeier has plenty of it. His deep ball is a legitimate weapon, his intermediate accuracy projects well, and he can make every throw required in modern NFL offenses. The floor here is a quality backup who can win games in spot duty, but the ceiling is a legitimate starter if he lands in the right situation with a creative offensive mind who understands how to protect him while unleashing his arm. Teams will draft him somewhere in the Day 2 range betting that the talent outweighs the durability concerns, and one franchise will get a chance to find out if proper scheme fit and physical development can unlock the first-round talent that was there before injuries derailed his final college season.
Written By:
Bill Miller (SEC)
Garrett Nussmeier percentiles vs other Quarterbacks (NFL Combine historically - higher value represents better perfomance)
How other scouting services rate Garrett Nussmeier (Overall Rank)
All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
75.8
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
6.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank
in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance.
For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.