The Pomp And Joe Show
Garrett Nussmeier wants to play for Steelers; Pitt football reduces capacity
29 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: Who is Garrett Nussmeier and why does he want to play for the Steelers?
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.
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Chapter 2: What connections does Garrett Nussmeier have with Mike McCarthy?
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 Garrett Nussmeier's performance at LSU impact his draft prospects?
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?
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Chapter 4: What are the opinions on Nussmeier as a potential day two quarterback pick?
He's a winner. He knows how to do that, and I think there's something to be said for that. So, I mean, it comes down to whatever the case, whoever is here, I would make that, when it arrives, as a complete open competition. I want to see everyone. Put your hand in the pile. Let's go. And whoever wins, wins.
Is that fair? Yeah, but just because you're a winner in college doesn't mean you're going to be a winner in the NFL.
What did Josh Allen win at Wyoming? Okay, what did Nussmeyer win? Has he won anything yet? Well, that's my point in terms of it doesn't matter. Yeah, it does.
A lot of it is trades and situations.
When you come off a season where he had last year and you follow it up with one he had this year, I have more questions than answers.
What did Drake May win in college? Okay. I don't know. Not enough. Enough to be the third pick overall. Okay. So you're going to tell me. And I read you the list of national championship quarterbacks.
How would you do it if you had Nussmeier, Mason Rudolph, and Will Howard?
You can't have a three. One thing that was proven under Tomlin in the last five years is you can't have a three-man open battle. So it's going to be two. It would be Nussmeier and Howard. Me too. That's what I would do. I don't even know what is going to happen with Mason.
Yeah, he might just not come back.
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Chapter 5: What challenges did Nussmeier face during his college season?
And if that's the case, now you get excited about a young Will Howard. So whatever he presented caught the attention and got him hired. So I'm excited about that. And I'm also excited about the fact of this dormant offense that we've been running over the last four years.
As fans, I understand Pittsburgh loves defense and loves running the ball. But at some point, don't you want points? Correct.
Nah, man.
Nah.
Spence fucking jumps in. Let me hear the next one with them where I think it was Howard and then Rudolph comes into the conversation. Do you have that or no? It was basically Charlie Batch saying, you know, if this comes to pass here where they're putting some eggs in the Will Howard basket, if you're Mason, do you say, what about me? Like, what about him? He's an afterthought, Bob.
I haven't heard Mike McCarthy say or Art Rooney, hey, he can't wait to work with Mason Rudolph.
Right. It's always been Will Howard. Yes. I think they've identified something in him over the course of him being here for the entire year, even though he never played in a preseason game, had the injury. You could tell people who have some qualities that you really like as a quarterback.
You know, they're intangible things that we can't talk about because we don't know, but they do after spending time with him. I also think Aaron Rodgers really likes the guy. I think Aaron Rodgers would endorse him as somebody who can emerge as a starting quarterback in the NFL. Perhaps. So... Where does that leave us? Again, it comes back to Rodgers. He has to make a decision.
It leaves us with a sixth-round pick who's never taken a snap in a preseason game that every team had a chance to pick. And I realize they had a chance to pick Tom Brady and Mark Bulger, too, and Matt Hasselbeck, and they went in the sixth round. But if you did the draft over again, I'd be real curious to see where the Steelers would take Will Howard.
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Chapter 6: How does the Steelers quarterback situation affect Nussmeier's chances?
Right, and that's the logic. But he is a sixth-round pick, and there were teams, including the Steelers, that didn't pick him for five rounds. I get all of that. But again, I think the year with him here and what they went through in meetings, and who knows what they gleaned from those meetings and just watching him in action. I don't know. I'd be willing to give him a chance.
But again, I would draft this year and next as if I were trying to come up with a whole bunch of people around him that will make any quarterback in 2027 successful, or at least more successful that you don't rely on him to be the guy.
All right, Limits, line up our next guest here.
All right, so Frank Michael Smith is going to join the show next. Big-time content creator on TikTok. I think he's approaching 2 million on TikTok, Bob. He's a big TikToker.
Huge following. And he does great work, and I've been bullish on him for a while.
Yeah, he was on us last week. And he's very, very bullish on Mike McCarthy. I give the McCarthy hire a C. Bob, are you still on a C? Yeah. Limits, are you still on an F-plus? I'm at an F-plus. So one of us, or maybe all of us, are going to be at odds with Frank Michael Smith here. This should be interesting. He'll join us next. Fan Twitter brought to you by South Hills Kia Peters Township.
Visit them at SouthHillsKia.net. Fan text line brought to you by Edgar Snyder and Associates Personal Injury Law Firm, where they always say, there's never a fee unless we get money for you. We're also going to talk in a little while. Bob, perhaps we could take a couple minutes now about Pitt's idea to, what are they going to do, cover up a bunch of seats over at Acroshore?
Yeah, they're going to reduce the capacity from, I think it's 68,000 to 51,000, something in that. And honestly, if you look around football, and I'm not talking about the football factories, not the Tuscaloosa, not Notre Dame, most of these other schools, have smaller venues. And I think they are better when it comes to atmosphere.
And I don't know if you can create that even with, like the Oakland A's used to do, tarpaulin over the outfield bleachers or whatever. So what do you think of that deal? I understand why.
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