At about this time last year, when NFL Draft analysts put out their way-too-early mock drafts for 2026, Garrett Nussmeier’s name appeared early in practically every one. He entered last season with the expectation that he’d be selected highly in the first round.

It’s a reminder, when we hear the hype about the 2027 draft class at quarterback, that not everything works out as expected for draft prospects.

Nussmeier had an injury-filled final season at LSU, his numbers fell dramatically from 2024 and so did his draft stock.

The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Nussmeier with the 249th overall pick in the seventh round, just a handful of picks before the end of the draft.

It wasn’t just the drop in production that caused Nussmeier to slide in the draft. His size, at 6-1 5/8 and 203 pounds, is not ideal for an NFL quarterback. Combine that with inconsistency in his play and too many turnovers — in his strong 2024 season he still threw 12 interceptions — and teams had reasons to pass on him.

Nussmeier will try to show that 2024 was his actual level, and 2025 was a season tanked by an abdominal injury that affected him all season. In 2024 he threw for 4,052 yards and 29 touchdowns. That fell to 1,927 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, and Nussmeier played in just nine games.

There were reasons Nussmeier was highly regarded in the draft community a year ago. By the time NFL teams got to pick him, his draft cost was much less than anticipated. Now he has a chance to show that he was worth the hypes from a year ago.

Drew Allar had strong sophomore and junior seasons at Penn State. His senior season cost him.

Allar played in only six games due to a broken ankle, and didn’t do enough to impress NFL scouts into moving him up draft boards.

Allar still ended up in a decent spot. He went to the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 12th pick of the third round, 76th overall. The Steelers will probably get Aaron Rodgers signed at some point this offseason to start in 2026, but as he enters his age-43 season, he could retire after any season.

Whether that answer is Allar remains to be seen. He needs plenty of development to get to the point where he could be trusted as a starter. But the Steelers did use a valuable pick on him. The Steelers will need someone to step in when Rodgers is done. Pittsburgh just drafted Will Howard in the sixth round last year and have talked him up this offseason, though they’re clearly not sold there to use a pick on Allar, who is a project with some positive traits.

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Allar has NFL size and a good arm, and showed some athleticism at Penn State as well. The problem has been consistency and accuracy. That was an issue coming into last season and he didn’t show enough improvement in those areas during his final six games in college.

The good news as Allar heads into the NFL is he has the physical tools to last for a while in the league. He has plenty of work to do to refine his game, but he won’t have the same pressure to develop quickly that he would have had as a higher pick.

Allar isn’t the first toolsy quarterback that has been drafted, with the hope that he develops his game to match his arm strength and size. He should be given some time to do that in Pittsburgh.

Jeremiah Trotter was a good NFL linebacker, making four Pro Bowls. He also was pretty good at raising linebackers.

Trotter’s son Jeremiah Jr. was drafted by one his dad’s former teams, the Philadelphia Eagles, in the sixth round of the 2024 draft. He was a contributor to the Eagles’ Super Bowl team two seasons ago.

Trotter had a second son drafted into the NFL on Friday night, to another of his former teams.

Josiah Trotter, who played at Missouri, was a second-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Trotter wasn’t with Tampa Bay for long, logging three games there late in his career. But Trotter was with the Eagles when current Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht was a part of Philadelphia’s front office.

Josiah Trotter was a productive player at Missouri last season, with 13 tackles for loss. He will battle for his spot on the depth chart in the Buccaneers defense, and look to carry on his father’s NFL legacy.