PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s the season of hope not just for teams, but for NFL prospects. The trick is for the teams to figure out what can be explained away by injuries or poor team play and what is just a player who isn’t good enough to play at the next level.
One of those guys plays the most important position in sports. Garrett Nussmeier came into the season seemingly as a lock to be a first-round quarterback, but what is described as an abdominal/core injury and inconsistent play leaves his future in doubt.
What is intriguing from a Steelers perspective, is not only the need for a quarterback, but Nussmeier’s father, Doug, coached with new Steelers coach Mike McCarthy.
Nussmeier said he was first hurt in day two of LSU Fall camp practice in August and fought through the injury until early November when he was lost for the year. In nine games with the Tigers in 2025, he completed 67.4% of his passes for 1.927 yards, 12 TD and five interceptions.
“I really wasn't able to throw the football,” Nussmeier said of his issues that started nearly a month before the season began. “I had a stabbing pain in my ab every time I went to go throw the ball. And we weren't able to figure out exactly what it was.”
It was frustrating, but Nussmeier said he wasn’t the school or doctor’s fault for the lack of finding the answer. It was just a rare situation. He said he has made a lot of progress over the last month.
The challenge now is trying to get rid of the bad habits that he created dealing with the pain in his mid-section. He said everything from his arm angles, rotating his hips, to his feet, all were impacted and now Nussmeier said he’s retraining himself to get back to the proper fundamentals.
Imagine trying to throw a football without really using your abdomen, but now he feels good. So good the 6’1”, 205-pounder says he’s 100% and believes the lessons learned will help him in the NFL.
Nussmeier did meet with the Steelers this week. And he knows McCarthy and his offense well.
“I spent a lot of time in Dallas,” Nussmeier said at the NFL Combine. “I was the iPad kid on the sideline when I was in high school there. So, he was with the tight ends for three years and the quarterbacks for two. And so, Dallas is a special place to me.”
“Got to spend a little bit of time around Coach McCarthy. I really like him. He's a great coach and somebody who is very passionate about winning, has his way of going about things and he believes in them. And I think he does a really good job.”
It didn’t seem as though he said this to gain favor with the Steelers, but when asked about his top five quarterbacks in today’s NFL, he said Patrick Mahomes first. The next quarterback he mentioned was Aaron Rodgers.
He’s hoping for a chance to work with and/or potentially supplant Rodgers as the next Steelers quarterback.