Malachi Nelson commits to Boise State: Ex-USC QB was a five-star recruit in the 2023 class

Nelson ranked as the No. 24 overall player available in the transfer portal

By Cameron Salerno Jan 6, 2024 at 8:54 pm ET• 2 min read

Former USC signal caller Malachi Nelson committed to Boise State Saturday, giving the Broncos a major talent infusion in their quarterback room. The former-five star prospect was the No. 24 overall available player in the portal, according to 247Sports. 

Nelson was in the running to be the No. 1 quarterback a loaded 2023 class. He ranked fifth behind Arch Manning (Texas), Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee), Dante Moore (UCLA, Oregon) and Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma) at his position coming out of Los Alamitos (California) High School. He initially committed to Oklahoma but flipped to USC just two days after Lincoln Riley left the Sooners for the Trojans. 

Nelson was expected to compete for the USC starting job in 2024 alongside backup quarterback Miller Moss, but elected to hit the transfer portal after attempting just three passes for the Trojans.

Coming out of high school, 247Sports national scouting analyst Gabe Brooks compared Nelson to Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love: