The biggest story surrounding LSU football this spring is the quarterback battle. That will continue to be the case until a starter is finally named, which probably isn’t happening until August.
Despite it being an open competition, many assumed that it was really just a battle between [autotag]Myles Brennan[/autotag] and [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag]. These are the guys with experience and the guys the coaching staff went out of their way to get on the roster.
But all spring, there have been some signs that Garrett Nussmeier is in the conversation to. Recently, The Athletic’s Brody Miller wrote a story on Nussmeier, stating a staff member said Nussmeier is right in the thick of it.
After [autotag]Walker Howard[/autotag], the highly touted quarterback LSU signed in February, joined the program, many assumed that Nussmeier might not have a future at LSU.
He was sandwiched in-between the veterans and hot-shot freshman. In the age of the transfer portal, not every quarterback would stick around in that situation.
For now, Nussmeier is still here, and he’s competing.
He didn’t play much in 2021, so it’s hard to tell if the sample size is adequate to get some real takeaways. According to PFF, Nussmeier’s average depth of target was 13.6 yards, almost four yards more than Max Johnson’s.
At the same time, Nussmeier said earlier this spring that he is trying to shed that gunslinger label. It’s not that he doesn’t want to sling it, but that label has led some to see Nussmeier as a guy that wasn’t ready, as a guy who took risks for the heck of it and someone who couldn’t go through the basic progressions of an offense.
That being said, it’s still the arm talent that’s drawing the most attention this spring. That’s not to say Nussmeier hasn’t improved in other areas, it sounds like he has, but there’s been tweet after tweet saying Nussmeier just made a dynamite throw throughout the spring.
He’s not going to run a 4.2 forty, but he’s got legs. If the quarterbacks were to race, Daniels would probably win, but Nussmeier might be the guy coming in second.
This isn’t to say Nussmeier should be the favorite to start, it’s probably still one of the older guys. [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] didn’t spend time re-recruiting Brennan and going after Daniels to have them ride the bench, but the best man will play, and Nussmeier has a chance to prove that’s him.
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