Malachi Nelson Has Two Big 12 Teams on Short List
After beginning the season as the sixth-ranked team in the AP Top 25, the USC Trojans spiraled out of control with one of the worst defenses in college football, ending the year at 7-5 despite having the nation’s best player at their disposal, 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams.
Williams will, in all likelihood, be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, leaving Lincoln Riley (maybe?) to decide who he’ll start at quarterback for the 2024 season. Malachi Nelson was the clear frontrunner to land the job, that is, until he entered the transfer portal along with 16 other players on the USC roster.
Nelson, a former five-star quarterback out of Los Alamitos, California, was originally committed to Oklahoma when Lincoln Riley was still in Norman and flipped his commitment to USC when Riley took over in Los Angeles.
However, he’s now looking to take his talents somewhere else, as the Trojans have been shopping quarterbacks, such as Will Howard, in the portal over the last couple of weeks.
According to On3, Nelson has had preliminary discussions with five schools since entering the portal, and two of the programs are in the Big 12.
The Los Alamitos product is looking at South Carolina, Tulane, Cal, TCU, and Houston, according to On3, but there has been no list released to this point.
Houston will have Donovan Smith returning in 2024, but TCU just saw Chandler Morris enter the transfer portal. It is worth noting that Morris didn’t finish the year as the starter as Josh Hoover earned that designation.
However, when a former industry consensus five-star quarterback is available, it’s worth throwing your hat in the ring.
