LSU Football: Tigers’ plan for true freshman QB Garrett Nussmeier

LSU football is down to three scholarship quarterbacks after sophomore TJ Finley entered the transfer portal last week.

Finley wasn’t expected to win the Tigers’ quarterback battle, so it wasn’t a surprise to see the Louisiana native hit the portal.

With Finley on the move, it leaves redshirt senior Myles Brennan, sophomore Max Johnson, and true freshman Garrett Nussmeier as the starting options for LSU.

Nussmeier could be the most talented of the quarterbacks on LSU’s roster, but he almost certainly won’t win the starting job this fall.

LSU football’s plan for Garrett Nussmeier in 2021

The Tigers have a plan for Nussmeier in 2021.

And it doesn’t involve the former four-star recruit seeing much playing time as a true freshman.

According to 247Sports’ Billy Embody, LSU is hoping to redshirt Nussmeier in 2021.

“If a loser of the quarterback battle opts to transfer out, that’d mean Nussmeier is one snap away from being the starter,” wrote Embody last week. “LSU would like to redshirt him though.”

It makes sense that LSU would want to redshirt Nussmeier — especially with Brennan and Johnson on the roster.

But redshirting a quarterback in 2021 isn’t like it was in 2001. The idea back then was to get five years out of a quarterback, with one of those years being a “learning year”.

In 2021, however, if a quarterback is a legitimate NFL prospect, they’ll likely be off to the NFL after three years — either as a junior or a redshirt sophomore.

LSU won’t really be gaining anything if they redshirt Nussmeier in 2021.

Of course, if Nussmeier isn’t needed this season, it means that Brennan or Johnson is playing at a high level.

So either way, it’ll be a good situation for the Tigers.