With pick No. 249 in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs selected LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier.

It was a decision that surprised many people, even Nussmeier himself. He felt like he was sitting and waiting forever for his name to be called. However, the fact that it was the Chiefs surprised him.

“It was pretty minimal, you know,” Nussmeier said of his contact with the Chiefs in the draft process. “I think it’s crazy how some of these teams do their work. They like to hide who they like, and some like to show it. It’s a big chess match. I’m just so excited, man. It’s a great opportunity for me to learn and develop and be under a great coach, and obviously, behind one of the best quarterbacks of all time.”

The decision to draft Nussmeier marked a first for the Chiefs. It was the first time they’d drafted a quarterback since taking Patrick Mahomes at pick No. 10 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft. They might not have planned for Nussmeier to be the one available to them, but drafting a quarterback to develop behind Mahomes is something Brett Veach and his counterparts have long discussed.

Chiefs VP of Player Personnel Ryne Nutt discusses LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier’s fall

Nussmeier was the 10th quarterback selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, yet ahead of the draft, he was near-unanimously ranked as the No. 3 quarterback prospect behind Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson. What exactly happened to cause this fall for Nussmeier? According to Chiefs VP of Player Personnel Ryne Nutt, it was simply a matter of circumstance that affected perception during his final season at LSU.

“Garrett (Nussmeier) is a unique case,” Nutt said. “He was the odds-on favorite to be one of the top quarterbacks taken right this year. (In) 2024, he finished his last three games with (wins), and he ended up throwing for over 4000 yards in 2024 with I think it was 29 touchdowns. So there was a ton of buzz on him coming into this year, for whatever reason. You know, he didn’t have a great season.”

In 2025, Nussmeier started nine games due to injury. He completed 67% of his passes for 1,927 yards, 12 touchdowns, and five interceptions. After the 2024 season that he had, it simply wasn’t what evaluators had expected. He was basically the quarterback version of the Chiefs’ pick at No. 29, Clemson DT Peter Woods.

While Nussmeier’s oblique injury did affect his play, Nutt doesn’t believe it was the sole reason behind his fall.

“I do know he was battling through an oblique that people didn’t know about, that was bothering him the whole year,” Nutt continued. “And if you’re a quarterback and you can’t torque your hips and bring, bring your hips through. So, the ball maybe doesn’t come out with as much velocity as you want. But they also fired the head coach and the offensive coordinator there at middle of the year. But this is a game of results and not reasons, right? So I think maybe… I don’t think it was the cyst. I don’t think I had anything to do with the medical stuff, because we were fine with it. I think it was maybe just the season.”

Garrett Nussmeier gives the Chiefs something they’ve never had before under Patrick Mahomes

The Chiefs haven’t drafted a quarterback since 2017, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t discussed it before. In fact, this discussion has been going on behind the scenes with Kansas City for a long time among Brett Veach, Andy Reid, and other decision-makers. At what point is Mahomes the “veteran” and ready to train up a younger draft pick behind him to serve as the team’s backup quarterback? At what point do the finances of paying a rookie deal make more sense than the finances of paying a one-year deal to a free agent backup?

Some teams believe in drafting a quarterback every year, even if you’ve found your guy, because of the valuable assets they can be. The Chiefs simply hadn’t found themselves in a situation where they reasonably felt that drafting another quarterback made sense, until now.

“We’re excited to have this kid,” Nutt concluded. “He’s going to be a developmental guy for us. We’re obviously excited about Justin Fields; we brought him in, but this is something we haven’t done. And we’ve talked about for a while now, is getting quarterback late and developing him, and Garrett gives us that opportunity.”

Nussmeier is the son of a coach (Saints OC Doug Nussmeier) who, at one point, was one of the most promising quarterback prospects in this draft class. The Chiefs are hopeful that the circumstances of 2025 were just a momentary setback and that, after some development and refinement, Nussmeier can serve as the backup behind Mahomes as early as 2027 and throughout the span of his rookie contract.