Malachi Nelson: The Most Intriguing Transfer In College Football

The former USC 5 star starts anew in Boise, Idaho

The transfer portal in college football has become one of the more polarizing aspects of the sport. For good reason, there’s people on both sides of the fence. I find myself straddling both sides at times, but undoubtedly, I believe it gives players the autonomy to take control of their careers in a way that wasn’t possible before. As old-school as I can be sometimes, I do believe players need fresh starts in certain instances. The inverse is also true - sometimes players are forced out of their past situations and have no choice but to enter the portal and start anew.

Oftentimes these players can get lost in the fray if they are not of superstar status. But in my opinion, I find some of these cases to be the most intriguing. The story behind the story has always compelled me more than the headlines. Is the player a former five star looking to reclaim national attention? Is the player a former walk on that earned the right to be seen as an elite player in the country and is now on the main? Or is the player a guy that had a troubled past that has now put that behind them, or is on their last strike?

Getting to the bottom of stories like these is what makes the sport special. The best part is that the stories are still being written right in front of our eyes. As the spring portal has now closed and final rosters are much closer to being realized, I think it’s time for us to look at the most interesting transport portal prospect of the 2024 cycle. When deciding who to highlight here, it was very difficult to narrow it down to just a singular player as there are a bevy of options when it comes to transfer portal additions to follow. However, I feel this is the player that I'm most interested in going into the 2024 season.

Boise State QB Malachi Nelson (7) - Boise State Atheltics

Quarterback has always been the most publicized position on the football field. Malachi Nelson was at one point the number one overall prospect in the 2023 high school class. At 6’3 190 pounds, Nelson has the prototypical frame for a quarterback. He has as much arm talent as any player in the country and his high school tape is as good as any high school quarterback you could think of in the last five seasons. There’s no mistaking why he was so highly touted. But as usual in these cases, talent is not the issue.

At the quarterback position alone, those rankings included Arch Manning, Dante Moore, Jackson Arnold, & Nico Iamaleava. To say that Nelson had the spotlight on him is a bit of an understatement. Add in the fact that the one-time USC signee was figured to be the heir apparent for Heisman Trophy and recent number one overall NFL draft pick Caleb Williams, and the story gets even more heavy.

Lincoln Riley is the only coach in college football history to produce three Heisman Trophy winners, and number one overall picks all at the quarterback position. That list includes Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, & Caleb Williams. While other aspects of his coaching ability have been criticized, no one doubts his ability to identify talent at the quarterback position. So when Malachi Nelson decided to enter the portal in December, a lot of questions were raised as to why.

Riley and Nelson looked like a perfect match on paper, but obviously something was missing. Rumors circled of trouble in practice for Nelson. There’s also the rumor that Malachi Nelson, while talented as any player, does not necessarily put the game of football first. These are the things that I find interesting because only the people behind closed doors really know. Regardless, when he entered the portal, Nelson was thought to be a sure P5 transfer. When he announced that he was transferring to Boise State, he shocked the nation.

Boise state is no alluring blue blood by any means, but they are undoubtedly the most storied & consistent G5 program in the country. They are coming off of a 10-4 season in which they won Mountain West Championship Game and the LA Bowl. They also hold the NCAA’s longest consecutive winning season streak at 26 seasons in a row. So again, while not the sexiest program, you could argue this is the most football-forward decision Malachi Nelson could have ever made.

Boise State QB Malachi Nelson (7) - Boise State Atheltics

There’s not much in Boise to focus on besides football. Choosing to get away from the limelight of LA, and then forgoing the power five conferences, where he could’ve been under more of the spotlight, signals to me that at the very least he is making this about development and advancing his career more than he is interested NIL or any of the other things that come with being a highly valued prospect. With other players like talented running back Ashton Jeanty, Boise State is the team to take seriously this season.

When you talk about a player like Malachi Nelson that has all the measurables & attributes that you want in a program shifting level quarterback, it makes this season even more interesting. Because if Boise State is able to maximize his potential and also run the table in the Mountain West, they very well could see themselves in the College Football Playoff which now expands to twelve teams. We then could see Malachi Nelson in the spotlight we always imagined - just from a very different lens. Team goals aside, if he is able to maximize his potential and lead Boise State to a CFP, where would he rank as an NFL prospect? Could we end up where we thought we would all along?

It’s a very unique case that we haven’t really had much of an example of before. All in all, I can’t wait to see where this season takes us with the Malachi Nelson story.