2026 NFL Draft season is here: Try the best-in-class PFF Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2026's top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
Background
Garrett Nussmeier is a 6-foot-1, 205-pound quarterback who played five seasons at LSU. Nussmeier chose to stay with the Tigers for the duration of his career despite sitting behind Heisman winner Jayden Daniels for several seasons.
Nussmeier enjoyed a breakout 2024 campaign, establishing himself as one of the most productive passers in school history. However, his final season was less successful and cut short after nine games due to nagging torso and abdominal injuries. He finished the year with 1,927 passing yards and 12 touchdowns.
2025 PFF Grades and Stats (rank out of 57 draft-eligible QBs)
- PFF Overall Grade: 77.1 (18th)
- Big-Time Throw %: 4.5% (T-24th)
- Turnover-Worthy Play %: 3.0% (T-21st)
- Adjusted Completion %: 77.4% (11th)
- Accuracy %: 59.9% (19th)
- Pressure-to-Sack Rate: 19.0% (T-20th)
- PFF Clean-Pocket Grade: 83.5 (23rd)
- PFF Under-Pressure Grade: 57.4 (9th)
Scouting Evaluation
When scouting quarterbacks, I break down their game into five overarching categories, from most important to least: processing/decision-making, accuracy/mechanics, pocket presence, playmaking/athleticism and arm talent. Then, using PFF’s Scouting Assistant, I can assign a number grade out of 10. Below, I’ll go into detail about the grade I’ve given in each category.
Processing/Decision-Making: 6.5/10
Nussmeier shows good control of an offense. You can see him setting protections, and he clearly understands coverages by some of his impressive anticipatory throws over the middle of the field. He finished the 2025 season with an 89.5 PFF passing grade on throws over the middle of the field — ninth highest in the draft class. However, he does have a gunslinger mentality and believes he can make every throw. There are tight-window passes all over his tape, but too often those throws are dangerous, resulting in his high turnover-worthy play rate of 3.0%.
The LSU product also gets stuck on a decision based on pre-snap leverage. He’ll have the right idea of where to go with the ball based on what the defense is showing pre-snap but will often blindly throw the ball instead of recognizing that defenders are passing their routes and falling off. That led to a handful of interceptions and turnover-worthy plays in his final season.
Accuracy/Mechanics: 6.5/10
There aren’t major concerns with Nussmeier’s accuracy. His 59.9% accuracy rate hangs around the middle of the pack in this year's draft class, but he excelled in two specific areas. His accuracy barely dropped when he was forced to throw on the run. He produced a 54.8% accuracy rate when moved, ninth best in the draft class. The second area was his deep ball. He logged the 11th-highest adjusted completion rate on targeted throws with a depth of at least 20 yards.
His accuracy significantly drops when he is dealing with pressure or muddy pockets. He tended to call off passes and struggled to really step into throws when he sensed pressure. It too often caused easy misses that most quarterbacks are expected to make.
Pocket Presence: 5/10
Nussmeier’s pocket presence is the area of his game with which I’m most concerned. He struggled with pressure and sensing pressure, albeit behind an LSU offensive line that did him no favors at times this season. Overall, he didn’t face a ton of pressure, but he did deal with an inordinate amount of quick pressure where his tackles would lose in less than two seconds or there was a busted protection up front. That could be the reason his internal clock was so sped up.
When Nussmeier was pressured, pressures turned into sacks far too often. His overall pressure-to-sack rate of 19.0% isn’t too bad, but it jumped up on first and second downs, which are crucial for an offense to sustain drives. Nussmeier's pressure-to-sack rate on first and second downs came in at 28.6%, which is alarmingly high. Moving to the NFL, he has to get better at feeling pressure to avoid those drive-killing sacks.
Playmaking/Athleticism: 7/10
I was pleasantly surprised by how well Nussmeier played out of structure. He’s not the most athletic quarterback, but he does enough out of structure. Most of those solid plays came with his arm, and he made some extremely impressive throws when the play broke down.
Nussmeier did a great job of keeping his eyes downfield when scrambling, which led to explosive plays. Despite the previously mentioned struggles under pressure, he still earned the ninth-highest PFF overall grade under pressure in this draft class, in large part due to his throws out of structure.
Arm Talent: 6.5/10
This category could have a slight asterisk because Nussmeier said he played all season with an abdominal injury. That can significantly affect throw velocity. You can see that at times, but overall, I thought his arm was solid. There weren’t a lot of fluttering passes, and he showed he could drive the ball well.
Overall, I’m not too concerned with his arm talent. As previously mentioned, he was able to throw on the run really well, which is a great trait to have to show off your arm talent.
Final Grade: 6.38/10 — Solid Starter
Garrett Nussmeier is an intriguing prospect. He showed some flashes, particularly in his 2024 season, but really came back down to earth in 2025. He has a gunslinger mentality, and I respect quarterbacks who aren’t afraid to test tight windows. Still, he was often predetermining his throws and wasn't confirming what the defense was doing post-snap. He struggled to deal with pressure, leading to drive-killing sacks, but when he was able to escape the pocket, he made some impressive plays with his arm.
It’s hard for me to project Nussmeier as anything more than a potential high-end backup. I can see him working his way onto an NFL team and being a reliable spot starter in a pinch, but right now, everything is a bit too chaotic. And when you get to the NFL, that chaos typically only speeds up.
© 2026 PFF - all rights reserved.