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The Texas Longhorns quarterback, Arch Manning, has found his role model. And that’s none other than the LSU Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. “It’s cool having a guy like Nuss to look up to. He kind of had the same situation as me, just sitting for a few years, then going to play, and he played well. I’ve watched a lot of his film. He’s a good player, so it’s fun to look up to him.” While Manning must view Nussmeier’s tape as his motivation, the LSU Tigers QB is not quite happy with his past feat.

Maybe, that’s the answer for all those who questioned Nussmeier making a comeback, extending his college football stay for yet another season. After all, he had once spoken highly of his pro-league dreams. “Since a young kid, all I have ever wanted was to grow up and play in the NFL.” However, he has some ‘unfinished business’ and until and unless he takes care of it, he won’t get peace.

On the June 30 episode of the LSU Tigers on NOLA.com, the host inquisitively asked what made him hit the U-turn even after knowing that he would have made a fairly high draft pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Without any touch of remorse, Nussmeier came up with an optimistic reply. “There was obviously a lot of prayer and a lot of thoughts with that. As I speak about all the time, my faith plays a huge role in my decision and things like that, and so you know, I feel like coming back, I just feel like I had unfinished business. I feel like the product that I put on tape wasn’t what I wanted to be, and it’s not what I wanted to leave.” Nussmeier has shown flashes of brilliance this season, including multiple passing efforts of 400-plus yards. 

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He came up with 4,052 yards and 29 touchdowns. “If I had to take one [of the 2025 quarterbacks], I’d probably take Nuss,” a NFL scout said last November. CBS’ Chris Trapasso even picked Nussmeier as high as No.7 in one of his mock drafts, predicting him to land with the New York Giants and as the perfect replacement for Daniel Jones. However, the Tigers quarterback turned a deaf ear to all this noise. After all, he knew that he was not ready for the pro league yet. He posted an 84.3 PFF passing grade when throwing it 10-19 air yards in the middle of the field. This is something many quarterbacks struggle with. 

However, at the same time, Nussmeier was not perfect there. Five of his interceptions came when throwing intermediate over the middle, and when LSU failed to threaten deep, secondaries took the middle of the field away. So, you know with what energy Nussmeier is heading into the 2025 season. As the quarterback shared, “I fully believe in Coach Kelly and what he wants to accomplish this year. I didn’t want to watch anybody else try to make that happen; I wanted to be the guy to spearhead that and lead that. So, it wasn’t that hard of a decision for me.” All this fueled a bigger purpose for Nussmeier.

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The final drive of Garrett Nussmeir begins 

Brian Kelly’s quarterback is ready with a detailed plan of action. As we spotted Nussmeier at the Manning Passing Academy, he shared his thoughts. The quarterback has been training his body and legs this offseason with the mission to become more mobile next season. Remember the stats last season? He ran the ball 35 times last season, but ended up with -35 rushing yards due to some ugly sacks. Along with this, he came up with three rushing touchdowns, and his longest run was 14 yards.

The one game that made Nussmeier give his college football chapter one last try was against Texas A&M. He came up with three picks and could only complete 50% of his passes. For the first time, Nussmeier might have felt like a fish out of the water. This was followed up by another lacklustre performance against Alabama. 27 of 42 passes for 239 yards, two more interceptions, and one touchdown. However, Nussmeier’s willingness to move into the NFL with a clean chit now has approval from his offensive coordinator, Joe Sloan

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What’s your perspective on:

Is Garrett Nussmeier's decision to stay in college a smart move or a missed NFL chance?

Have an interesting take?

“He’s been able to really watch and dive into every bit of his film from the last year. And now, take that into spring with a really good plan on exactly what to improve… I think you just see a calmness and an understanding every day of exactly what he needs to do. That’s the piece that experience brings you,” said the coach. Other than leaving no stones unturned to show up with a revamped version of himself, Garrett Nussmeier will have the best weapons to protect him. One of them is Aaron Anderson, the 5-foot-8, 190-pound speedster. As Sloan shared, “I think you see just a different Aaron this off-season and how he approaches every day, how he’s taking care of his body, how he’s attacking practice.” So, is the sunset of Nussmeier’s college career shining golden?

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Is Garrett Nussmeier's decision to stay in college a smart move or a missed NFL chance?

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