The journey of Malachi Nelson has been much more difficult than most 5-star quarterbacks. The former top-10 overall player was a passing commodity, earning a grade as high as ESPN's No. 1 overall player and a 99 from 247Sports. However, Nelson hit a new low point in his career on Sunday.
Nelson was originally supposed to be Caleb Williams' heir at USC, taking the reigns from the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. USC head coach Lincoln Riley has masterfully crafted his career around developing quarterbacks, including Williams, Jalen Hurts, Baker Mayfield, and Kyler Murray. Nelson, with a strong arm and dynamic rushing ability, seemed like a perfect fit to be next in line.
Nelson arrived at Boise State with some rust, contending with an injury for most of his brief tenure at USC. During his time with the Trojans, he played four snaps in just the game against San Jose State. In a distinguished high school career at Los Alamitos High School in Southern California, he amassed 105 touchdowns and 7,988 yards.
After entering the transfer portal, Nelson chose Boise State for his sole visit. He committed to the program in search of a hardworking environment where he could demonstrate his capabilities and integrate with the team. Unfortunately, Nelson couldn't beat out Maddux Madsen for the starting job this summer.
Maddux was efficient as a backup at Boise State last season, throwing for 1,191 passing yards, 120 rushing yards, 11 total touchdowns, and three interceptions. Boise State offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter runs a pro-style offense, which made the addition of Nelson particularly challenging. On top of being inexperienced, Nelson had to adjust to a new school and offensive scheme.
Nelson was a 7v7 Passing League Hall of Famer and went on to be one of the most accomplished high school passers in California state history. He's clearly a gifted thrower, but the evolution of passing camps and leagues has left many quarterbacks facing bigger hurdles when transitioning to more complex offensive systems.
There's also the injury factor. Riley talked about Nelson recovering from shoulder surgery and doing well, but he noted how the quarterback was in quite bad shape before the surgery.
"Physically, it’s been a 180. I would say even mentally too. It was great for him to get the reps during spring. He was probably operating below 50 percent of his physical capability at that point. We’re glad that he went through it. He’s glad that he went through it. It certainly made him better."
It's possible Nelson will never be the sweet-throwing presence we saw in high school or that the redshirt freshman could use another year or two of strength training to improve. Or, it's more about learning a scheme that he didn't quickly absorb compared to Maddux, and it's not a huge impediment.
For now, Nelson is teetering despite being in college for only two years. The dream of him competing for a National Championship and Heisman Trophy seem as far as they've ever been. Maybe our expectations are out of wack for someone still so young, but so much has gone sideways already for a high-profile quarterback that it's hard to digest.
Nelson followed Riley as an Oklahoma commitment to USC, and then bailed less than one year into the experience. That was a major red flag of something not being right. Losing the starting job at Boise is a lesser offense, but nonetheless a concern that Nelson was a major recruiting miss more than anything he did or didn't do.
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