Garrett Nussmeier's Draft Fall Ends At No. 249

NFL teams in actual need of a quarterback to play this coming season steered far away from LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier in the 2026 NFL Draft. As a result, the player many thought could have been the top pick in the draft a year ago fell all the way out of the top-200.

But the plus to being drafted that late is there are no expectations and teams can take a risk on a player with a high upside. That's exactly what the Kansas City Chiefs did on Saturday.

After acquiring the 249th pick in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Chiefs used it to take Nussmeier, ending his fall less than 10 picks before he would have gone undrafted. He might not get the "Mr. Irrelevant" treatment that Brock Purdy got, but he might have wound up with something better: Unmatched tutelage.

Nussmeier will now be developed by one of the top coaching staffs in the country, led by Andy Reid and his returning offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. More importantly, he'll get to learn the ropes as the understudy to one of the most talented throwers of the football the league has ever seen: Patrick Mahomes.

Rise and Fall of Nussmeier

In 2024, Nussmeier completed 64.2-percent of his passes for 4,052 yards and 29 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. While the turnover rate was pretty rough, he was a model of consistency and seemed destined to be playing on Sundays soon.

But things collapsed not just for Nussmeier but for the entire Tigers team in 2025. Injuries limited him to nine games and fewer than 2,000 yards with just 12 touchdowns.

By the end of the season, fans were left wondering if he had any sort of future in the NFL - short-term or long.

Time will tell if Nussmeier manages to carve a niche for himself on the Chiefs' roster or any NFL roster, but there's no better place to be to start learning the ropes while having no pressure.

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This story was originally published April 25, 2026 at 4:20 PM.