{"id":72405,"date":"2025-02-14T12:00:10","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T17:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=72405"},"modified":"2025-02-13T18:56:06","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T23:56:06","slug":"how-garrett-nussmeier-can-become-lsus-next-heisman-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/02\/14\/how-garrett-nussmeier-can-become-lsus-next-heisman-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"How Garrett Nussmeier Can Become LSU\u2019s Next Heisman Winner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fanduel\u2019s 2025 Heisman odds are quarterback-heavy with a mixture of veterans like Cade Klubnik<\/a> and rising stars like Arch Manning. Garrett Nussmeier<\/a> is currently a slight favorite to win, but how much production is enough for him to become LSU\u2019s next Heisman winner?<\/p>\n

Several factors play into Heisman odds. Quarterbacks have an inherent advantage at the most visible position, but team success is also critical. It doesn\u2019t hurt to play for a school with a big brand. The race is not solely dependent on a player\u2019s production, but also on what other players achieve.<\/p>\n

Of course, Nussmeier can only control what he does on the field. It\u2019s reasonable to expect his raw numbers to improve after a year of experience. The tricky part is determining how much growth is realistic against a highly competitive schedule.<\/p>\n

LSU’s Next Heisman Winner<\/h2>\n

The Standard is Set<\/strong><\/p>\n

If we\u2019re projecting the growth of an LSU Heisman candidate at quarterback, what better gauge could we use than LSU Heisman-winning quarterbacks? Both Jayden Daniels and Joe Burrow made significant jumps in their second year as starters at LSU. Daniels is such a different animal as a runner that we\u2019ll use total yards to compare for the sake of this exercise.<\/p>\n

Daniels 2022<\/strong> \u2013 3,798 total yards<\/p>\n

Daniels 2023<\/strong> \u2013 4,946 total yards<\/p>\n

Burrow 2018<\/strong> \u2013 3,293 total yards<\/p>\n

Burrow 2019<\/strong> \u2013 6,039 total yards<\/p>\n

So Daniels improved his production<\/a> by roughly 30% and sprinkled in a few \u201cHeisman moment\u201d plays against Florida where he looked like the Tecmo Bowl version of Bo Jackson. Here\u2019s where it gets silly \u2013 Burrow increased his total yardage by 83%, nearly doubling his first year\u2019s stats.<\/p>\n

Fortunately for Nussmeier, we won\u2019t hold him to that standard. Let\u2019s say he can increase his production by a measly 30%. That would put him over 5,000 yards in 2025, more than any quarterback in the nation had last year. It feels odd to say, but 5,000 yards isn\u2019t a stretch considering the weapons the Tigers have added. The biggest threat to this increase could actually help the team – a more effective running game.<\/p>\n

His 29 touchdowns were good for 10th<\/sup> in the country, so climbing to the mid-30s would definitely put him in elite company. More importantly, he must improve on his 12 interceptions as a first-year starter. Cutting that number in half would be nice, but getting down to eight is more realistic for his style of play.<\/p>\n

Team Success<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Voters tend to lean towards winners, but they\u2019ve shown an appreciation for greatness in recent years. LSU\u2019s record was a popular talking point for Daniels\u2019 naysayers in 2023, but his dominance was inarguable. Travis Hunter did what no other player has in recent history, so he was forgiven<\/a> for not being in playoff contention.<\/p>\n

Both Daniels and Hunter had eye-popping athleticism that jumped off the screen and embedded itself in the consciousness of voters. For that reason, we don\u2019t think an 8-4 regular season will be good enough for Nussmeier to win the Heisman. The Tigers need to be a 10-2 playoff team. This requires more defensive stops and fewer interceptions, only one of which Nussmeier can control.<\/p>\n

We also must consider that the Tigers have not been ready to play in season openers in the Brian Kelly era. Clemson is up first in 2025, so if LSU loses there\u2019s not much wiggle room for losses in conference play to make the playoffs. Nussmeier\u2019s Heisman chances could take a hit after only one week of play.<\/p>\n

Sizing Up the Competition<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Manning is on Nussmeier\u2019s heels as the second most likely Heisman winner, and he\u2019s even first on some services like MGM. Manning meets all the prerequisites with the name recognition, the brand of his team, and the projected team success. However, there\u2019s still the question of how Manning will perform when given the reins full-time. The tools are there, but there is no substitute for experience (Just ask another hopeful in Tennessee\u2019s Nico Iamaleava<\/a>). The known part of this equation is he\u2019ll have great offensive coaching and perimeter pieces in his corner.<\/p>\n

Nussmeier\u2019s Week One matchup with Clemson is important for LSU\u2019s record, but it will feature two Heisman hopefuls going head-to-head. Clemson\u2019s Klubnik is entering his senior season and hoping to elevate his Tigers<\/a> back to elite status. This will be a high-profile game with the college football world watching. The results will have a lasting effect on public perception of the quarterbacks. Even if both candidates manage to stay in the Heisman conversation throughout the season, then voters will surely come back to this game to make comparisons.<\/p>\n

No Heisman conversation would be complete without acknowledging the greatness of Jeremiah Smith<\/a>. Ohio State will be starting a new quarterback. It\u2019s only natural that he would throw it in Smith\u2019s direction when things look dire. The sophomore has no discernable weaknesses in his game and will be heavily targeted even in a deep wide receiver room.<\/p>\n

As always, there will be players who seemingly come out of nowhere to propel themselves into the discussion. Burrow\u2019s odds were 200-1 in the preseason of 2019. For now, these guys make up the biggest obstacles for who could potentially be LSU\u2019s next Heisman winner.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Main Image: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fanduel\u2019s 2025 Heisman odds are quarterback-heavy with a mixture of veterans like Cade Klubnik and rising stars like Arch Manning. Garrett Nussmeier is currently a slight favorite to win, but how much production is enough for him to become LSU\u2019s next Heisman winner? Several factors play into Heisman odds. Quarterbacks have an inherent advantage at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4690,"featured_media":72417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10906,3],"tags":[9728,729,4211,607,86,8688],"class_list":["post-72405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-cfb","category-sec","tag-arch-manning","tag-brian-kelly","tag-jayden-daniels","tag-joe-burrow","tag-lsu-tigers","tag-travis-hunter"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4690"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72405"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72418,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72405\/revisions\/72418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}