“Coach, I’m a Tiger and I’m, I just want to let you know, I’m going to be here.” This is what Garrett Nussmeier told his HC, Brian Kelly. When his teammates swapped wagons in the era of NIL or chased NFL dreams, Nussmeier chose to stay loyal. The quarterback chose to return to Baton Rouge, even though it came with a sacrifice: being in an LDR with sweetheart Ella Springfield. Now, is he going to spread magic yet again? LSU offensive coordinator Joe Sloan is the right one to judge the young chap, as he comes with a clean chit for Nussmeier. But as we all know, it’s high time to shift the focus from ‘me to we.’ The success of Nussmeier’s final sprint in college will rely on his wide receivers. That’s when an underrated receiver is catching the buzz. 

Nussmeier had a superb season in 2024. Any doubts on that? 4,052 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions, and completing 64.2% of his passes does not just speak but screams how good he is as a quarterback. And what more do you want when you have got a green pass from one of the most critical people in college football?

Paul Finebaum firmly believes that Garrett is THE QB LSU needs right now. Even though Garrett Nussmeier has already caught the Heisman hype, with buzz for the New York Giants to land him, he knows he has some unfinished business in college. And for now, the quarterback has kept the distractions in check, working hard to close his college chapter with a bang!

On the May 22nd episode of Off The Bench: LSU podcast, host Jake Hester had Sloan on the call. Talking about how Nussmeier is working on himself lately, the coach came up with a review. “He was as prepared as he could be and had developed as much as he could possibly.. to be prepared to play. Then there’s experience and development you have to get from play right, and there’s some situations that happened in the season that now he’s aware of how those things transpired.”

Perfection is a myth in any sport. Even Garrett Nussmeir had some turn-down moments last season. The biggest problem with Nussmeier is the fact that comfort had taken the exit door when it came to taking hold of the pigskin. Do you remember his feat against Texas A&M? 

Kelly’s quarterback came up with three picks and could only complete 50% of his passes. An absolute fish-out-of-water kind of situation. This continued in week 11 as well. Something looked off when he faced off against Alabama. Nussmeier’s numbers dropped as he racked up only 27 of 42 passes for 239 yards, two more interceptions, and one touchdown. But he has learned from his mistakes and is all set to come up channeling a new version of himself.

As Sloan assured, “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.” Now, how lucky is Nussmeier going to be when it comes to receiving support on the gridiron? 

Garrett Nussmeier can blindly count on the new wave of wide receiver talent at LSU

It’s no secret LSU has lived up to the “Wide Receiver University” name over the last few years. The 2025 NFL Draft was no exception. You name them—Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, Malik Nabers, and Brian Thomas Jr. are now spreading their magic in the NFL. So, does that mean that Nussmeier will now go unprotected? No way. The Tigers now have someone to count on. That’s none other than Aaron Anderson, who remains a critical component to the Tigers’ offense.

The 5-foot-8, 190-pound speedster is fresh off a breakout campaign in 2024 after becoming one of Nussmeier’s top weapons on offense. Anderson pieced together a breakout season last fall after tallying 61 receptions for 884 yards and five touchdowns. Moving into the 2025 season, Sloan could not stop talking about the speedster.

“I’m excited about all the different guys. You talked about Aaron. The way that he’s taken from last spring, he was kind of an unproven commodity going in and he was competing with a lot of different guys, and where was he going to fit and took advantage of some different opportunities and then really took off from there. But 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. I couldn’t be more proud,” Joe Sloan said. Now, who is the other guy who has got Nussmeier’s back?

Jelani Watkins, who has been making a name for himself on the track circuit. Even though the receiver only played eight snaps on offense and fell prey to an ankle injury last fall, he posted a time of 10.03 in the 100-meter at the Tom Jones Invitational in Florida. The 2024 stars may be gone, but Garrett Nussmeier’s not sweating it—his new crew is ready, and so is he.