The Pomp And Joe Show
12PM - Garrett Nussmeier wants to play for Steelers; Pitt football lower capacity; Frank Michael Smith loves the Mike McCarthy hire to develop a young QB
29 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
All right, starting to take shape here, James Kampen, the new offensive line coach, Bob. Now, he does have a resume. He was the Packers offensive line coach under McCarthy from 2007 to 17. That's something pretty good to put on your resume, yes? Yes. He's also had one-year stints, Cleveland, Chargers, Texans, Carolina. I'm not sure it went great, but there wasn't a lot of talent there either.
He does come with things on his pro football resume. The big question is who's going to be the quarterback. And there's an interesting little story developing, Bob, that I wanted to get your thoughts on. Garrett Nussmeier tells Ross McCorkle of Steelers Depot, I would love to play for the Steelers and McCarthy. And we know, we already knew that there is a connection there because Doug Nussmeier,
was a quarterback's coach, worked under McCarthy in various roles in Dallas. This kid could be a day two quarterback. Who knows? He could be a steal. Speaking of situations where you're hampered by your surroundings, was that the case with him this year at LSU? How do we look at him as a prospect? Would he be a good day two pick?
Where do you guys stand on this? I mean, I liked him going into this season. I think I've come to not like him as much. But I would say that about a lot of quarterbacks this year. I think I need to see more from him. But day two, I guess. I mean, again, if the relationship means something and he believes that he could work with McCarthy and vice versa, then I guess you would try it.
First and foremost, though, they have to get an answer from Aaron Rodgers. That's where it all starts for me. But does this Nussmeyer thing intrigue you, though? Because even if they bring back Rodgers, he can still draft somebody. Would he be available in round three, say?
Maybe. The Steelers have the 51st pick, and they've got a bunch of third-round picks if they want to finagle their way up in the draft a little bit.
It's a lot easier to go in the third to the second as it is to move to the top ten of the first round. You have to come up with a whole bunch of stuff to get there. So that would make sense if he's available and if they like him.
His junior year, he threw for 29 touchdowns, 12 picks, and 4,000 yards. Everybody thought he was going to absolutely just explode this season. He winds up with 12 touchdowns, 5 picks. Did he get injured too, I think? Yes. Yeah, he was hurt a lot of the year.
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Chapter 2: What does Garrett Nussmeier say about wanting to play for the Steelers?
So what do you think, Limits? Yeah, so at the start of the year, whenever I was hosting by myself.
I put him in the same thing as Aller.
Yeah, I did my own quarterback, like my own rankings coming into this year. I had Nussmeyer number one. I had Aller two. I had Nussmeyer one. Because, look, he's just 6'1", 205. He's not a big guy. But there's still arm strength there. There's somewhat mobility there. He's a limited prospect. I thought he was going to take much more of a jump this year.
But I do think that he is somebody who is kind of a victim of his circumstance. Kelly gets fired in the middle of the year. He gets banged up. They have no running game.
Sure, quarterbacks need to overcome stuff like that, but I think that there was kind of an avalanche of things on Nussmeier where he's still an intriguing prospect, not a first-round guy, but somebody that I think definitely in a good situation can flourish. Man, I'm interested, and I'm reading right now Matt Miller, Jordan Reed, Field Yates. They put together a whole thing.
about the Senior Bowl, right? And one of the guys they're looking forward to watching is Nussmeier. And they're talking about the stuff we're talking about right now, where was he a victim of his circumstances last season? Reed writes, LSU's Garrett Nussmeier will be the most impressive passer this week because of his anticipation and accuracy. Talking about the Senior Bowl setting, of course.
The 6'1", 205 pound Nussmeyer has a daredevil mentality, isn't shy about throwing into tight windows over the middle of the field or outside the numbers. His experience with altering protections at the line of scrimmage will also stand out. After a disappointing injury plague season, he'll be looking to recapture the early round buzz he had entering 2025.
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Chapter 3: How does the Steelers' quarterback situation impact team dynamics?
All I've heard this guy says is round three, but others had round five or sixth grade on him. What do you think of that? If they drafted him, I'd put him above Will Howard. I can tell you that.
Bob? No, I wouldn't. Just because the size thing. He's not the breakaway kind of guy that I think at his size he should have. He can, but he doesn't do it on a regular enough basis. I've only watched a few games, so I'm certainly not an expert on this. And I don't know where he fits in.
I just expect that based on all the hype coming into the season, to see a much better season from him than I saw. Now, as... Austin explained, there were circumstances that changed it, including injury and coaching turmoil. But I'm not convinced that he's going to be what I'm probably hoping he's going to be.
Me neither, but I think he's more of a third, second, or third-round talent is what I'm saying.
What I would do if they ā again, Rogers has to make a decision. But if he doesn't come back, to me I would draft as if ā I was loading up. Even if Rodgers does come back, I would say this, I guess.
If Rodgers does come back and play and he ends up being the starter, then I would draft so that I have a whole bunch of stuff on my cupboard for next year for when it's either Will Howard, somebody else drafted, whomever, and Rodgers is not around. Because if he comes back this year, he's not going to come back at 44.
As I told you yesterday, I think it's better just to move on at some point, and this would be the point. But if not, I would draft so that I have everything that a young quarterback would need in 2027.
Limits? If you had Nussmeyer drafted and Will Howard and Mason Rudolph, how does your pecking order go there? Oh, boy. I think I would start with Mason at first just because he's the veteran, and I would not want to throw either Howard or Nussmeyer right to the Wolves because they've not played any preseason snaps, at least at this point, or any NFL games, obviously.
So I would start Rudolph and then let the best man win between Nussmeyer and Howard. Who intrigues you more, if Nussmeier were drafted? Nussmeier does. Just because of his ability to throw into tight windows. I think he's a better arm than Will Howard does. And one thing... Garrett Nussmeier faced a ton of pressure last year.
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Chapter 4: What factors influence the Steelers' quarterback draft strategy?
These things are true to me. One pit should have an on-campus stadium. They should have built an on-campus stadium. That's the way it should be. It should be about 40,000 to 45,000 capacity. Good number. I like that. That's just a truth, but it didn't happen.
So in the reality you're dealing with in an NFL stadium, if you're not a high-profile winning program, this was a prudent move to put tarps on your bleachers. But I'm not going to sit here and have a ticker tape parade about it.
It's not going to be aesthetically pleasing. It's going to look like Oakland when the A's were playing there and they had to hold up ā You try to put tarps and then you cover it up with past championship teams or players, you know, make it look like it's some sort of designer. But it doesn't take away from the fact that it underscores a bigger problem. And that is you got to win.
Winning attracts everything. However, that's why PNC Park and the, you know, 35,000, 38,000, that's a perfect number for baseball. I really think. If you want to create a demand, you have that number. And then if things really go well, you jack the price of tickets. That's all you do. But you're never going to attract $68,000 for every pit game.
It's just my vision for there, what I would have always wanted to see. Is even a smaller stadium, what's the capacity of Knippert Stadium? Can you look that up, Olimitless?
It's like 30,000, 32,000.
Just a tiny little band box where you have a home field advantage.
Where people are going crazy and it's fun. You don't think two blue devils could play in a bigger arena if they wanted to? No, they chose that place and it's still one of those places because it creates atmosphere. It makes them better. Plus, demand for tickets is always there. You have people on waiting lists.
I mean, Alan Green made it sound like this is going to sound like LSU on a Saturday night. You're going to have a stadium where people are moving down to the lower bowl, which is great. It'll be better. I'm not saying that. But you're still going to have a giant cavernous stadium with huge swaths of it covered up by tarps. Optically, it's not going to look good. Nippert Stadium, just $40,000.
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Chapter 5: How does Frank Michael Smith view the Mike McCarthy hiring?
I mean, that's all you got. You have to judge it, Bob. Are we assuming he plays well in the Super Bowl too? No, let's say he has an average Super Bowl and they win despite him, in spite of him. I think he makes $15-20 million. That's my point. That's how you're believing that this guy can do it, even though he hadn't played all season long.
If you looked at that game right there, there are some people who still say that, I saw some things that I liked in that Denver game from him.
Oh, it's a big risk. No one's denying that. Frank, what do you like about Willis?
Look, he played outdoors. He's grown a lot as a player. We're not really sure where the ceiling is. He can move around. He's been a professional. He's been in really hard situations.
I think that takes a lot of perseverance to be in a spot like he was in Tennessee and look so bad, almost be given away for a seventh rounder and to come in and start in a really hard spot and to keep that team alive for playoff contention. That says a lot about the guy. He looked like he was poised. They won games under him. They could really run the ball under him too.
So I see a lot of comparisons. Is he a Super Bowl winning quarterback right now? Probably not. But if we're looking at that low price, like you mentioned, that might be worth it. I'd still draft a guy.
I have a tweet here from someone who wanted to get in this conversation and say, what about a trade of Kyler Murray? I say no to that. Yeah, I don't want that. I don't even know what this contract is, but if it's significant, I wouldn't want that.
Is there any tradeable guy out there that you have your eye on?
No, I don't like the market.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of Pitt football reducing stadium capacity?
I definitely wouldn't do a guy like Kirk Cousins. We tried that with Russell and Aaron already. On the Aaron thing, one more point, though. If I'm this dealer's front office, I'm giving him a hard deadline. We can't drag this thing out all offseason because Aaron does like to do that. I think he's come a long way. I was actually pretty anti-Aaron for a long time.
I thought he was super egotistical and... He didn't really show any of that this season in Pittsburgh. I thought he was great. But he has a bit of a circus in the offseason. He's known for this. So don't let him control the narrative here. You have to give him a hard deadline by the draft. I agree. Or maybe well before the draft.
You've got to tell us if you're in or if you're out because we're making plans and moving on. So ā How about Ty Simpson?
How about Ty Simpson in the first round? There's people linking the Steelers to him. You like him or no? Seems high, right? Yes.
Very high. I don't know about the first round. I do like the kid, but not the first round. And if he comes in as a first-round draft pick, he's going to be the guy, you would think, if there's no Rodgers, right? They're not going to. So that's the other thing that you're shutting down any possibility that Will Howard. I like open competitions if there are two guys involved.
We talked about this earlier. If it comes down to Howard and Rudolph or Howard and anyone else you can bring in, as long as they're not some veteran guy who has to play because he's a veteran guy, I want to see that. I want to see somebody take a step forward. And the only way you're going to know that is to give him chances.
Wouldn't it be nice in some of these third downs where the Steelers' offense is dink and dunk? They get into a lot of these third and shorts, third and mediums. When's the last time we had a guy who could really scramble out there and pick up a first down? That offense really misses this.
We haven't thrown the ball over the middle of the field like some of these other teams do and get run after catch yards. Wouldn't it be nice if we forced teams to play a little bit of man and could actually scramble and had a younger guy? In my head, that's what I'm thinking of is like, let's keep some of these drives going. Let's be a little bit more dynamic.
And a younger guy or a guy like Malik Willis brings that.
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