Former five-star USC QB prospect gets second opportunity with ACC team

Malachi Nelson is still at it and getting another opportunity in the Power 4. The former five-star prospect entered the transfer portal earlier this month and announced his commitment to Syracuse. 

Nelson was one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2023 recruiting class. He was one of the first high school players to sign an NIL deal while still in high school and when the All-American from Los Alamitos High School signed with USC, it was expected he was going to be the next great quarterback for the Trojans.

A long road from the Coliseum to the Carrier Dome

(Yeah yeah, I know the stadium is known as the JMA Wireless Dome these days, but no one calls it that)

The plan for Nelson was simple. He was going to sit behind Caleb Williams and then be the starting quarterback in 2024. The first half of that plan worked out well. Nelson sat and Williams played and put up very good numbers, although short of his Heisman season in 2022, and left to become the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. 

Nelson, however, couldn't beat out Miller Moss for the backup QB role in 2023 and Moss showed enough promise in the games he played that Nelson decided to transfer at the end of the 2023 season and go to Boise State. 

He competed for the starting spot at Boise, but lost out to Maddux Madsen and only made three appearances for the Broncos and threw just 17 passes. With no clear path to playing in Boise, Nelson decided to transfer to UTEP. 

Nelson finally got an opportunity to see the field with the Miners. He started six games and threw for 1,183 yards with eight touchdowns and nine interceptions. Those numbers aren't going to get Nelson any All-Conference awards, but he did show enough promise in the time he played in El Paso that Syracuse was willing to take a flyer on him. 

He has two years of eligibility remaining, and I'm sure there are many Trojan fans out there that wish him good luck.