Malachi Nelson
| No. 7 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Class |  Freshman |
| Major | Communications |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | December 7, 2003 Los Alamitos, California, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 193 lb (88 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| Bowl games | |
| High school | Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos, California) |
Malachi Nelson (born December 7, 2003) is an American college football quarterback. He previously played for the USC Trojans and the Boise State Broncos.
Early life
Nelson was raised in Los Alamitos, California and attended Los Alamitos High School. He began receiving scholarship offers to play college football while he was in the eighth grade.[1] As a freshman at Los Alamitos, Nelson passed for 883 yards with eight touchdowns and five interceptions.[2] Nelson completed 73.9% of his passes for 1,513 yards and 23 touchdowns during his sophomore season.[3]
Nelson was rated a five-star recruit and committed to play college football at Oklahoma during the summer prior to his junior year over offers from Alabama, Florida State, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and USC.[4] Nelson was named the Press-Telegram Player of the Year after passing for 2,690 yards and 39 touchdowns in his junior season.[5] He decommitted shortly after the departure of Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley.[6] Nelson then committed to play at USC.[7] Nelson competed in the finals of the 2022 Elite 11 quarterback competition.[8][9] Entering his senior season, he was ranked the best recruit in the nation by ESPN.[10]
College career
Nelson joined the USC Trojans as an early enrollee in January 2023.[11] He only appeared in 1 game, as Caleb Williams was the starter, which allowed him to redshirt and keep 4 years of college eligibility. On December 17, 2023, Nelson announced that he would be entering the transfer portal.[12]
On January 6, 2024, Nelson announced that he would be transferring to Boise State.[13] Nelson competed for the starting QB position with Maddux Madsen, who won the job; and only appeared in three blow-out victories for Boise State in 2024.[14] On December 12, 2024, Nelson announced that he would enter the transfer portal and leave Boise State.[14]
College statistics
| Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| USC Trojans | ||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0–0 | 1 | 3 | 33.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 33.3 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Boise State Broncos | ||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | 0–0 | 12 | 17 | 70.6 | 128 | 7.5 | 0 | 1 | 122.1 | 2 | -11 | -5.5 | 0 | |
| Career[15] | 4 | 0 | 0−0 | 13 | 20 | 65.0 | 128 | 6.4 | 0 | 1 | 108.8 | 2 | -11 | -5.5 | 0 | |
Personal life
Nelson's father, Eric, is a pastor.[16] Nelson signed a Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deal with a Los Angeles-based hospitality firm shortly after the conclusion of his junior year of high school.[17][18]
References
- ^ "Incoming freshman quarterback with Auburn offer targeting Los Alamitos". Orange County Register. June 11, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
- ^ Morales, Antonio (April 7, 2020). "Is it 2023 yet? Malachi Nelson and the task of making good on 8th-grade offers". The Athletic. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
- ^ "OU football: Malachi Nelson fits nicely in Lincoln Riley's line of QBs". The Oklahoman. July 20, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
- ^ "Oklahoma lands five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson from class of 2023". The Dallas Morning News. July 18, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
- ^ "Los Alamitos QB Malachi Nelson is the Player of the Year". Press-Telegram. December 23, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
- ^ "Los Alamitos' Malachi Nelson de-commits from Oklahoma to USC". Los Angeles Times. November 30, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
- ^ Sallee, Barrett (November 30, 2021). "Malachi Nelson commits to USC: Five-star QB, former Oklahoma commit follows Lincoln Riley to Trojans". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
- ^ Garcia Jr., John (June 29, 2022). "Elite 11 Finals: Dante Moore, Malachi Nelson and Jackson Arnold Lead Rankings on Day 1". SI.com. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
- ^ "7-on-7 summer football tournaments have lots of competition". Los Angeles Times. July 9, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
- ^ Neschis, Matthew (July 26, 2022). "Arch Manning passed by Malachi Nelson in ESPN recruiting ranking". New York Post. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
- ^ Morales, Antonio (January 30, 2023). "Finally at USC, Malachi Nelson ready to work, compete and develop". The Athletic. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
- ^ VanHaaren, Tom (December 17, 2023). "USC QB Malachi Nelson entering transfer portal, sources say". ESPN. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- ^ Gillenwater, Sam (January 6, 2024). "Malachi Nelson commits to Boise State out of the transfer portal". On3.com. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
- ^ a b Lederman, Eli (December 12, 2024). "Boise St. QB, former top recruit Malachi Nelson to enter portal". ESPN. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
- ^ "Malachi Nelson College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
- ^ Wasserman, Ari (November 29, 2021). "'USC is sexy again': The Lincoln Riley hire and the awakening of a sleeping giant". The Athletic. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
- ^ Thamel, Pete (June 21, 2022). "USC Trojans QB recruit Malachi Nelson and the new NIL world for prep superstars". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
- ^ "USC football commit Malachi Nelson announces first NIL deal". Los Angeles Times. June 21, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.