Chiefs Seventh-Round QB Garrett Nussmeier Receives Assessment for First Preseason Game

With starter Patrick Mahomes dressed but inactive, the Kansas City Chiefs relied on the rest of their quarterback depth to carry the workload on Saturday. In the club's preseason opener against the Los Angeles Rams, a trio of players got work, but one signal-caller received an extended look.

Seventh-round 2026 NFL Draft pick Garrett Nussmeier played for quite a while in his first unofficial NFL game, delivering some solid production for Kansas City despite an eight-point loss for the overall team. Thrown into the fire after backup Justin Fields got the starting nod but threw only four passes, how did the former LSU standout fare?

Statistically, it was a respectable showing. Nussmeier completed 13 of his 19 pass attempts for 98 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. It may not have been the prettiest of performances for someone fighting for a spot on the 53-man roster, but head coach Andy Reid seems to have had his bar set at an appropriate height.

Speaking to the media following the game, Reid added Nussmeier to the list of first-year players he felt turned in a quality outing.

"Yeah, again, another one of the young guys I thought did some nice things," Reid said. "There are a couple of things he's got to work on. I would've expected that coming out, but I thought for his first time out there rolling, I thought he handled it well. He made some nice throws. Had some long-yardage situations that he had to get himself out of and did a good job there."

Rookie QB Garrett Nussmeier with a nice little throw on the run.

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As is always the case, there were some yards and points left on the field. If Nussmeier could admit to wanting any plays back, two of them come to this writer's mind immediately.

The first was more of an amazing play by Los Angeles on a third-and-5 from the 17-yard line, although Nussmeier didn't quite hit wide receiver Cyrus Allen at the ideal point. It's partially on the passer. In the second half, the rookie field general uncorked a deep ball to wideout Jason Brownlee, but the 6-foot-2 target dropped the throw.

Nussmeier did plenty right, and converting on either of the aforementioned sequences would've given him a sparkling line to look back at as the icing on the cake. The 249th overall pick flashed some creativity on late downs, succeeding on a third-and-7 to Nikko Remigio for 17 yards (in the clip above) and a third-and-8 to Allen for 13.

Another third-down pass, this time to fifth-round halfback Emmett Johnson, got canceled out by a holding penalty on reserve guard Mike Caliendo.

Margins are slim in the modern NFL, thus rendering the sole use of basic stats far more reductive than in the past. Now more than ever, it's known that other factors go into a play's outcome. From a process standpoint, Reid feels his rookie quarterback got the job done while still leaving some room for improvement.

For a preseason debut, that's about all one can ask for.

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