LSU football QB Garrett Nussmeier says his athleticism will surprise people. Here's why

Most of the talk among the LSU football offensive players entering this spring and through the first couple of weeks of practice has been turning the page.

For the mostly new crop of receivers, it's making their own name after Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. have moved on. At running back, the scarcely-thin group has been working to produce quality reps out of a shear abundance of them for each guy.

And for quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, this spring has became a pilgrimage of assuming the leadership role and being the driver in how LSU's offense looks and operates under new co-offensive coordinators Joe Sloan and Cortez Hankton.

"It's about us, not me," Nussmeier told reporters following the Tigers' practice Wednesday morning. "It's not about me taking over. It's about developing our identity, meshing and modeling who we want to be as an offense and unit."

The first step LSU's new potential starting cast on offense had to attack was leaving what happened last season in the past.

Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels put together a stellar season for the Tigers in 2023 and those around the program the last two seasons with him under center grew accustomed to his innate ability to keep plays alive with his feet and run for first downs and/or long runs when the play completely broke down.

Nussmeier knows that's not part of his arsenal and plans to stamp games for LSU in his own way. And while taking off and running won't be a staple of how he operates, the junior quarterback understands the advantage it can give the offense when things aren't going as planned.

"Having some sort of running ability to keep a defense honest is important," Nussmeier said. "I haven’t had a chance to showcase that or do that yet but it’ll come. I understand and everybody knows that’s not my play style to be running 50% of the time but I think it’s important to run 15% of the time. When things aren’t good and you got to get a couple of third downs with your feet.

"I know that and whenever it is there, I’ll take it."

Despite the sceptics, Nussmeier does have some pop to his running apparatus, telling reporters that he's been clocked at 21.3 mph on the field.

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But he's solely focused on bringing the offense along. When it's a must, Nussmeier said he'll have no problem showing off his wheels.

"I wouldn’t say my focus is showing everybody how athletic I am, I don’t buy into that or listen to anything said about me or us," the LSU quarterback said. "I’m just focused on doing things the right way and when it’s time for me to run, I’ll do it."

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.