While watching the LSU Tigers play this season, one thing has stood out again and again: Garrett Nussmeier simply doesn't look right.

Nussmeier has dropped from a Heisman-favorite to having fans calling for the backup to step in after just five games.

The senior quarterback simply hasn't passed the eye test, and constant rumors about his health have certainly not helped his case.

Here is what is known for sure about his injury:

A couple of weeks ago, Brian Kelly told reporters that he was being slowed down by a torso injury that he was playing through, with a plan to get him to the bye week.

Then, the team lost to the Ole Miss Rebels. That's when the outcry from the public got loudest.

One throw, in particular, raised a lot of flags. It was on the far right side line to Chris Hilton Jr. What could have been an easy touchdown with Hilton wide open turned into a 15-yard gain because the ball was so underthrown that it led to a pass interference call.

After the game, however, Kelly said that Nussmeier was healthy and that the struggles could just be performance-based.

"Look, all I can tell you is, you know, he's healthy," said the coach when asked about Nussmeier's throws after the loss. "I think he would tell you [as well as others], we need to play better and more consistent on the offensive side of the ball."

Nussmeier opted not to talk about his health after the game.

Whether he is healthy or not, the play must improve if the Tigers want to make it to the postseason.

When looking through his numbers this season on Pro Football Focus, to see what could be wrong, one thing stood out. It's exactly what stood out when watching the game. His deep accuracy on throws outside of the numbers.

That's what that throw to Hilton that raised all of the red flags was.

Last year, Nussmeier completed 31 of 86 passes that traveled beyond 20 yards in the air, which is a 36% completion rate. That's already not a great number.

Back in 2022, Jayden Daniels went 16-of-42 (38.1%) on his deep balls. That was a year that had many calling for his starting job. He improved to 35-of-55 (63.6%) during his Heisman campaign.

This season, through five games, Nussmeier is down further to 7-of-23 (30.4%). It's not a huge difference, but getting worse in an area that was already questionable certainly makes things stand out even more.

The big thing that stands out in the numbers is just how poor he has been when throwing outside of the numbers.

Nussmeier is just 1-of-13 (0.08%) on deep passes that are not over the middle of the field in 2025. He was 15-of-54 just last season. Again, still not fantastic, but a noticeable step-up from the performance so far this season.

It is important to note that not every incompletion has been his fault. The wide receivers haven't been perfect. One of those deep balls was logged as a drop, for instance. Still, Nussmeier has needed to be better for weeks now.

If he were indeed suffering from an upper-body injury, it would provide a great explanation as to why this part of his game has continued to look worse and worse. It's harder to throw outside of the numbers when dealing with an upper-body injury, as they require more torque.

To give credit to Kelly, he did mention that Nussmeier was improving and needed to get to the bye week before he could have a break and shut everything down. That could give him enough time to sit and really heal.

Having to play the Rebels before that happened was just unlucky.

If Nussmeier gets through the bye week and still cannot perform, then the conversation must move on to the next stage: whether it is time to look to someone else.