Texas A&M's struggles prove Malachi Nelson is best with USC Football
By Evan Desai
This past offseason, there was rampant speculation over five-star USC Football commit Malachi Nelson potentially flipping to Texas A&M after he took an unofficial visit there. Of course, there was nothing tangible suggesting that he actually would flip to A&M, but the internet will be the internet.
It likes drama, and it's going to decide that Nelson is 100% flipping to A&M despite already showing his loyalty to Lincoln Riley in committing to him at two different schools. In the internet's fairness, however, TAMU is truly an NIL giant these days. They just signed what is widely considered to be the greatest recruiting class of all time this past cycle, despite going 8-4 and unranked.
Again, their NIL game is out of this world. If they can recruit at that level despite just a decent season, imagine what they could do if Jimbo Fisher finally has an elite season there during a non-pandemic year? Well, the Aggies having an elite season looks incredibly unlikely at this point, and maybe completely lost.
Texas A&M suffered their THIRD loss of the season already on Saturday. They've only played six games, and already have three losses. NIL is a GREAT recruiting tool for A&M, but losing is an awful one. The Aggies certainly do lose a lot these days, which is less than ideal for their chances at acquiring Nelson.
That's the case in particular due to USC Football winning as much as they have this year.
USC Football is currently 6-0, and ranked as the No. 7 team in the nation. That, along with them having a head coach who is 61-10 in his career, bode well for Nelson's chances. And it certainly hurts A&M that Fisher has been a disappointment at head coach for them; going just 37-15 for them in his now four and a half seasons with the program.
Again, remember that Nelson flipped to Riley's new school in USC after committing to Riley when he was at OU. He clearly wants to play for him.
And why wouldn't he? He's considered to run the best offense in the country, and has seen his first three quarterbacks get drafted within the first two rounds of the NFL Draft (Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hurts) after graduating from it. Two of them were No. 1 overall picks (Mayfield and Murray), and those two were Heisman-winners in their last years at OU.
The other in Hurts was also at least the Heisman runner-up, and made the playoffs in the NFL in just his first full season as a starter. Murray has been very good in the NFL too, as he has made the Pro Bowl in each of his past two seasons (just his second and third seasons in the league).
Riley currently has Caleb Williams as his fourth QB of his head coaching career, and sure enough he's in the mix to be invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony. Williams is completing 64.9% of his passes, while averaging 9.7 adjusted yards per pass attempt, and posting a TD:INT ratio of 14:1. He has not lost a fumble all year, and has also scored three rushing touchdowns while adding 178 yards on the ground.
It's clear that if Nelson wants to be developed as a quarterback, SC is his better bet for sure. It's also clear that if Nelson wants to win in his college career, SC is his better bet for sure. A&M's struggles this year prove that if Nelson wants to go to a winner, he's best at USC instead of the Aggies, who are having a horrendous season up to this point.