Garrett Nussmeier was a fine quarterback in 2024, but he wasn't quite a top-tier player, otherwise, he'd have likely gone to the NFL. This year, the expectation is that after a good year and with a better team in 2025, he will make the leap and become one of college's best quarterbacks.
How high can he go? That remains to be seen, but ESPN insider Bill Connelly thinks LSU could enjoy yet another late-career jump from quarterbacks. It's what several previous Tigers have done.
Klubnik vs. Nussmeier in Week 1 will be quite the market shifter when it comes to Heisman odds, and this game will give two teams with loads of upside and lots of question marks a chance to make a huge statement," Connelly began, admitting that both Cade Klubnik and Garrett Nussmeier, two of the best returning quarterbacks, have some question marks.
"LSU's defense will probably determine its contention fate, but if Nussmeier, the No. 3 Heisman betting favorite (+900), takes a Jayden Daniels- or Joe Burrow-esque leap in his second year as a starter, the defense won't have to make all that many stops," Connelly said. If Nussmeier can elevate his game like Burrow and Daniels before him, then the Tigers will be great. If not, they might just be good.