This article is part of the Reveille’s LSU football preview coverage. Read all of it here.

LSU’s walls are lined with coaches and players and record-breaking seasons; there isn’t much the Tigers haven’t accomplished. It’s a university where excellence isn’t just a mindset, it’s an expectation that the team can’t be short of.

This season, fifth-year quarterback Garrett Nussmeier returns to the pantheon of college football for his final season. A preseason Heisman campaign has already been mounted to put him in the bright spotlight, with expectations to add another legendary player to the LSU books. To further intensify the campaign, he was given jersey No. 18 this year, making him the first LSU quarterback in 20 years to wear it.

But is the “Nuss Buss” a true potential Heisman winner? After last season’s performance, Nussmeier is not even in the conversation, no matter how much people want him to be.

For the loyal Nussmeier lovers, where are these claims coming from? Fans all witnessed the train wreck that ended in an 8-4 performance last season, which led many to question why he was even on the team.

Now, let’s put the numbers behind the argument. In the long line of great quarterbacks that Nussmeier has to follow, it wouldn’t be entirely fair to compare him to other players, as everyone is different and not the same.

This is not to say he can’t throw the ball; he recorded 4,052 passing yards last season. However, what ultimately hurts this LSU offense is he’s not a dual-threat player like we have seen from previous quarterbacks.

Every time the offense got into an uncomfortable situation where he needed to run, it looked like he was petrified. While he wants to be in the Heisman conversation, he is going up against dual-threat guys like LaNorris Sellers, Arch Manning and Cade Klubnik.

In comparison, these three players had at least 103 rushing yards last season.

Sellers had 674 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns, and with a strong coach like Shane Beamer, that conversation about Sellers isn’t dying down; it’s just getting louder.

Can Nussmeier salvage Brian Kelly’s career at LSU?

This will be the fourth season for Kelly, and his time here in the boot has been everything short of remarkable. Coming from Notre Dame, his goal was to win an SEC Championship here at LSU.

Well, so is every other coach’s dream.

Since he’s taken over, he’s seen numerous commits slip through the cracks due to underperformance by LSU.

The most notable thing he’s done at LSU during his three years is coaching Heisman winner Jayden Daniels, who had 1,134 rushing yards during his senior season at LSU. Nussmeier is recording negative rushing yards and hasn’t been able to be a dual-threat.

Although he is a good pocket player and can throw the ball, the Heisman conversation seems like an attempt to salvage Kelly’s career here at LSU and give the faithful fans hope that this season won’t bring the disappointment last year did.

I may be completely wrong, and Nussmeier may perform like no one else before, and I will admit that I could potentially be completely mistaken.

However, as of right now, the fact still stands. His Heisman campaign needs to quiet down, and the focus should shift to helping him develop before the draft.