On3 Roundtable: LSU has two of the best QBs in the country in Jayden Daniels, Garrett Nussmeier

Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier come into the 2023 college football season as two of the SEC’s most highly touted quarterbacks. The only problem — they’re both playing under Brian Kelly at LSU.

The Bengal Tiger’s Shea Dixon joined JD PicKell at the On3 Roundtable to discuss the oozing talent inside the LSU quarterback room, and why having two of the top QBs in the SEC on one roster will benefit the Tigers in the long run.

“I had watched him during spring practices at LSU, but to see them throw alongside a lot of the other big names in the country — it was clear to me LSU has got two of the best quarterbacks, not just in the SEC, but in the country,” Dixon told PicKell. “We didn’t get to see what Daniels is doing with his legs out there, you see what he does with his arm.

“So much of this offseason has been dedicated to an explosive offense, taking a little more risk, going downfield more often, and Daniels was accurate when it came to deep ball throws at the Manning Passing Academy.”

After transferring in from Arizona State, the former four-star helped lead LSU to the SEC Championship and national contention with statistics of nearly 3,800 total yards and 28 total touchdowns while also completing a career-high of 68.6% of his passes.

“On the flip side of that, you’ve got the gunslinger Garret Nussmeier who we saw in the SEC Championship come in and throw it all over the field against Georgia, especially in the vertical game,” Dixon said. “Honing that in with more of a short and intermediate game, being accurate there with decisions.

“Throwing the ball was important to him this offseason and down at the Manning Passing Academy, you saw it from him.”

Nussmeier finished the 2022 season backing up Daniels, but managed to compile 800 passing yards and threw five touchdown passes compared to four interceptions. The aforementioned matchup against Georgia saw Nussmeier complete 15-of-27 passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns. He went on to play in the Citrus Bowl blowout against Purdue, where he completed 11-of-15 passes for 173 yards and two more touchdowns.

Fast forward to the offseason, and Dixon said Nussmeier was one of the “most efficient,” quarterbacks at the event. He was nailing moving targets and was the MVP of more than one drill during practices.

That one-two punch of Nussmeier and Daniels, for Dixon, is what sets LSU apart from the rest of the SEC. It’s a big reason he feels confident saying that the Tigers could make it back to the SEC Championship game over Alabama for a second consecutive season.