With the 249th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs selected… Garrett Nussmeier, quarterback from LSU.
In what has been a somewhat polarizing draft class for Kansas City, this selection was among the more controversial ones.
Two distinct camps have since emerged. One side believes it's a waste to spend a draft pick on a player who will ideally never see meaningful action. The other side sees the value in securing a cost-controlled, capable backup quarterback. Let's step back and analyze this pick from a 30,000-foot view.
Who is Garrett Nussmeier?
Measuring around 6'2 and 2053 pounds at the NFL Combine, before the 2025 college season, Nussmeier was widely projected as a first-round pick. In some mock drafts, he was a Top 10 or even Top 5 pick (like this one from Pro Football Focus). His strengths include significant experience (40 games played, 23 starts, all at LSU), solid pocket presence, anticipation throws, and sound decision-making. He also brings a strong football pedigree as his father, Doug, was an offensive coach at the FBS and NFL levels throughout Garrett's childhood.
However, Nussmeier's weaknesses are also real. He possesses a limited athletic profile, less-than-elite arm talent, and a recent injury history. He missed four games in 2025 due to an abdominal/oblique injury, and had a spinal cyst discovered at this year’s NFL Combine. The cyst may partially explain his underwhelming 2025 season.
According to the NFL Mock Draft Database 2026 Consensus Big Board (aggregated from 184 big boards, 1,454 mock drafts, and 1,441 team mocks), Nussmeier ranked as the 88th-best player in the draft and the third-best quarterback. The KCSN Top 300 Big Board had him 54th overall. The recent spinal cyst may have contributed to his slide, but very few analysts anticipated him being available this late in the seventh round. By most measures, the Chiefs got significant value.
Before making my case for the pick, it's worth steel-manning the opposing point of view.
The case against drafting Nussmeier
The most fundamental argument is simple: if Nussmeier is ever starting a meaningful game, it very likely means Mahomes is injured, a scenario no one wants to think about. Secondly, Kansas City could have used the 249th pick on a player with a more realistic path to contributing, such as a tight end, offensive tackle, or defensive lineman. Recent history supports this concern. Isiah Pacheco and Ryan Succop (although not in this current regime) were drafted 249th or later, and players like Jaylen Watson and Nick Allegretti were also found in the seventh round and contributed to this dynasty.
There's also this question: If they wanted another backup quarterback, why not sign one as an undrafted free agent and use the pick on a greater need? Some may also point out that the Chiefs already traded a 2027 sixth-round pick for Justin Fields, a more than sufficient investment in the QB2 role, making a second day-three pick on a potential third-stringer feel like overkill.
Beyond this specific pick, the draft class as a whole drew mixed reactions from the fan base. Some were skeptical of the trade up for Mansoor Delane inside the Top 10. Others questioned whether Peter Woods and R. Mason Thomas carry too much risk for top-50 selections. Some felt the team waited too long to address wide receiver. I'll leave those debates for another day, but they are part of the broader context surrounding the Nussmeier discussion.
These are all fair and legitimate criticisms.
The logic behind the investment
Now for why I believe Nussmeier can prove to be a wise investment.
The value is hard to ignore. If you accept the consensus ranking of 88th overall, then drafting a top-100 talent in the final round of the draft (barring significant character concerns) is almost always a good idea. In the end, the goal of draft weekend is to acquire good football players. Five to 10 years from now, what will matter most is whether this class produced more hits than misses. One of the most reliable ways to maximize those odds is to draft players who rank as highly as possible on consensus boards.
Also, let’s be honest about what the 249th pick actually is. It's not nothing, but let's not pretend the Chiefs passed on a surefire immediate starter by using it on a quarterback. Late seventh-round picks are developmental flyers by definition. The odds of finding a meaningful contributor at that point in the draft are very slim.
The backup quarterback has also been a position the Chiefs have underinvested in throughout the Mahomes era. Chad Henne, Matt Moore, Blaine Gabbert, Carson Wentz, and Gardner Minshew all had the QB2 role at various points, and none of them were particularly great. Henne and Moore had memorable moments, but neither was exactly a reliable option when called upon. Even the bigger names in recent seasons, Wentz and Minshew, struggled when they saw the field. Taking a late-round flyer on a player who was once projected as a day-one pick doesn’t seem like a terrible idea, in my opinion.
Why the long-term math matters
There's also a very real financial argument. Many fans and experts will claim that draft picks are too valuable to spend on a backup quarterback, but veteran quarterback contracts do carry a cost of their own. Some rough math: Chad Henne's average cap hit in Kansas City between 2018 and 2022 was $2.39M, equivalent to about $3.8M in 2026 dollars. Gabbert and Minshew signed at the veteran minimum, while Wentz carried a $2.8M cap hit in 2024, worth around $3.3M today.
As the 249th overall pick, Nussmeier is expected to sign a four-year deal worth around $4.5M, with an average cap hit of roughly $1.125M. Justin Fields does carry a $3M cap hit this year. If Nussmeier remains on the roster through 2029, that's potentially $2M in cap savings per season, which is money that could be used for building the roster around Mahomes. That's before accounting for the possibility that Nussmeier outplays the backup quarterbacks who came before him.
In addition, context does matter. Mahomes is coming off so far the most significant injury of his NFL career. Investing a bit more than usual in quarterback depth this offseason is prudent, not excessive. The struggles of Chris Oladukon late last season are a fresh reminder that the third-string quarterback spot cannot be ignored.
Finally, and this is perhaps the most interesting angle in my opinion, there's real trade value that can be farmed here. Teams routinely deal backup quarterbacks for meaningful draft compensation. In 2023, the 49ers got a fourth-round pick for Trey Lance, whose NFL career had been… disappointing, to say the least. In 2024, the Steelers turned Kenny Pickett, coming off two underwhelming seasons, into a quality pick swap and two additional late-round picks.
If Nussmeier performs well in the 2026 and 2027 preseasons, a quarterback-needy team could realistically offer a mid-to-late day-three pick, or even a late day-two pick, for several years of cost-controlled quarterback play. That's a potentially significant return on a 249th pick. Given how he'll spend time being coached by Andy Reid, this could be a realistic scenario.
The real question this pick answers
The value, added depth, the financial positives, and the trade upside all make Nussmeier a pick I can understand, if not just straight-up endorse. I can’t say that I definitely would have made the same call in Brett Veach's chair, and reasonable people can disagree. Nussmeier could struggle in the preseason and get cut before the season even really starts. One of the eight players drafted after him could also develop into a meaningful contributor that Kansas City will have wished they had taken instead.
What I am confident in is the underlying logic: actually investing draft capital in the backup quarterback position is a strategy I can understand, even if this particular execution is debatable. Whether it pays off is a question only time, and a few preseason games, can answer.
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