A new quarterback has caught the eye of the New York Jets universe.
After a sterling performance in the 2026 Panini Senior Bowl, former LSU passer Garrett Nussmeier was named MVP on Saturday, January 31.
“Garrett Nussmeier feeling more and more like a Day 2 option for the Jets,” Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic posted on social media.
Day two of the NFL draft consists of rounds two and three. The Jets don’t have a third-round draft choice due to a previous trade with the Philadelphia Eagles for Haason Reddick.
However, they do possess two second-round draft choices. That includes their own second-rounder (33rd overall) and the Dallas Cowboys’ pick (44th overall).
Jay Robins of Yahoo Sports projected Nussmeier as a third to fourth round pick in April’s draft. The talented LSU QB1’s draft stock is clearly on the rise.
Overflowing Accolades for a Talented QB
Nussmeier has a treasure chest of awards, including but not limited to: Texas Bowl MVP, ReliaQuest Bowl MVP, and LSU Football team MVP.
He spent five years with the Tigers. During that stretch, Nussmeier finished with 7,699 passing yards, a 52 touchdown to 24 interception ratio, and completed 64% of his passes.
Now he can add a Senior Bowl MVP trophy to his case. Throughout this week, Nussmeier participated in the premier college football all-star event of the offseason.
“Garrett Nussmeier was the most consistent QB (by far, IMO) throughout the week of Senior Bowl practice. And he looked sharp today in the game. Just good to see him healthy again,” Dane Brugler of The Athletic posted.
Just good to see him healthy again.
Key Injury That Affected Nussmeier’s Final Collegiate Season
Nussmeier, 23, will turn 24 before the start of the 2026 season.
Before the 2025 college football season, Nussmeier was being openly talked about as a potential No. 1 overall pick.
However, he didn’t have the season he was hoping for. Nussmeier appeared in nine games, completed 67.4% of his passes, threw for 1,927 passing yards, and had a 12 touchdown to five interception ratio.
“Well, if you go back to the year before, you can’t unsee what you saw. That was over 4,000 yards and 24 touchdowns. Now, when you’re evaluating anybody, and you see something like that, and it tails off, you always have to ask yourself as an evaluator and a team, why?” Senior Bowl executive director Drew Fabianich asked on the official Jets podcast.
“There are a lot of whys to Garrett Nussmeier. First of all, he was hurt for almost the entire year. People didn’t know that. That offensive line was not very good. They did not do a very good job protecting him,” Fabianich added.
Nussmeier was originally thought to be dealing with a “torso/abdomen” injury. However, he revealed during conversations at the Senior Bowl that it was something else entirely.
“We found out what it actually was a month ago … It wasn’t what we thought it was throughout the entire season. And so, we’re making new progress there, and that’s why … We got the correct diagnosis finally about two months ago, so … I’m not going to get into specifics,” Nussmeier told Tiger Rag this week.
That clarity and his improved play this week have his draft stock soaring months ahead of the 2026 NFL draft.
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