LSU's Garrett Nussmeier draws more national praise | He is the "best quarterback in the entire country"

As LSU prepares to open the 2025 season in late August, all eyes will be on quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who’s set to lead the Tigers in his final year of eligibility. After a breakout 2024 campaign, expectations are sky-high — and at least one national analyst believes the hype is well deserved.

“I think Garrett Nussmeier is the best quarterback in the entire country,” SEC Network’s Jordan Rodgers said Monday on The Paul Finebaum Show. “He’s ready for a monster year, partly because of who he is and what we saw from him last year. He’s one of the best quarterbacks under pressure — able to create, navigate the pocket, throw off-platform and be accurate in tight windows.”

Nussmeier, a native of Lake Charles, posted 4,052 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his first season as LSU’s starting quarterback in 2024. While the Tigers finished 9-4 and fell short of the College Football Playoff, Nussmeier’s individual performance ranked among the best in the SEC.

LSU’s offseason additions should play key factors in what could be an elevated season for Nussmeier and the Tiger offense as a whole this fall.

“I love the pieces they went out and got to put around him,” Rodgers said. “Nic Anderson from Oklahoma is a big 6-foot-5 target. Then they added Barion Brown, a guy who was underutilized at Kentucky but brings elite speed. And of course, Aaron Anderson and Chris Hilton — the speed they have on the perimeter is insane.”

With Nussmeier at the helm and a deep receiving corps around him, LSU’s offense looks poised to be one of the most explosive units in the country.

After ranking 14th in the SEC in total defense last season, the Tigers also addressed many defensive concerns through the transfer portal and must show significant improvements in 2025 to make a serious run at the CFP.

LSU will face a major test right out of the gate. The Tigers open the season on the road against Clemson in a primetime showdown on Aug. 30. The game, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC, will feature one of the top quarterback duels of Week 1 as Nussmeier squares off with Clemson’s Cade Klubnik.

The Tigers have had the Week 1 game circled for a while now and are laser-focused on something that has eluded them since 2019: winning the season opener.

“We’ve made it a specific goal,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said at SEC Media Days. “Goal setting is something that we’re all very familiar with in college football. Everybody talks about goals. We’ve made this a specific goal and a specific goal, meaning it’s tangible for our guys.”

Kelly said reminders of the task ahead are everywhere, quite literally.

“If you go through our weight room, we’ve got a Clemson paw print on the bags that we hit every day. It’s on every monitor in the building to go 1-0,” he continued. “I think it was important to have a tangible, specific goal for us to start the season. And I think it’s important—our kids want that. They can taste it.”