We’re three weeks into the New Orleans Saints‘ 2025 season, and Spencer Rattler hasn’t secured his place on top of the depth chart at quarterback after an 0-3 skid to start the year. We don’t know if Tyler Shough will be the guy to do it, either. So it makes sense to see quarterbacks remain a popular choice for the Saints in 2026 mock drafts. The latest mock draft comes from Mike Renner for CBS Sports, who likes the Saints to pick LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier inside the top-five.

Saints offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier has a little familiarity with Garrett’s game being his father and all. Nussmeier is a Day 1 starter who operates at a high level from the pocket. He’s had a bit of a slow start, but has also faced a difficult slate out of the gates.

Nussmeier was the second quarterback off the board in this projection, with Indiana star Fernando Mendoza going to the Cleveland Browns at No. 1. Oklahoma’s living highlight reel John Mateer also went in the top-10, and Oregon sophomore Dante Moore was taken at No. 12. But the only other first-round quarterback here was TCU’s Josh Hoover, who snuck in at No. 25 to the Los Angeles Rams.

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But what does Nussmeier offer? He isn’t a franchise-changing talent like former LSU stars Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels. His numbers are much more pedestrian and, frankly, compare better to what late-round picks Zack Mettenberger and Danny Etling did in Baton Rouge. Would the Saints be projected to pick him this high in the first round if his father weren’t on staff? It’s discouraging that a third of Renner’s writeup focuses on that connection rather than what Nussmeier has done on the field.

Either way, the Saints need a quarterback they and their fans can believe in. It’s tough to buy that one is already on their roster. It would make sense for them to target a passer early in the 2026 draft but that prospect must be someone who is actually worth the pick. Falling in love with a quarterback and drafting one too early, ignoring better players at other positions, is a recipe for disaster.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 2026 NFL draft: Mock draft links Saints to LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier