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When five-star Malachi Nelson signed with USC out of high school, a trip to the Sun Bowl probably wasn’t on his bucket list. El Paso is one of America’s finest cities and the Sun Bowl is a historic game, but he followed Lincoln Riley to Los Angeles to follow Baker, Kyler and Caleb into the Riley Heisman factory.
Instead, Nelson is set to join his third school in three years after leaving Boise State, his second school, for UTEP. On paper, he started his career at a program ranked No. 8 all-time in winning percentage. Among FBS programs that have played at least 25 seasons, only Kent State ranks lower than UTEP. Simply put, Nelson is headed about as far from USC as humanly possible only two seasons after landing as the star recruit.
Granted, Nelson should be able to lock up a starting job playing in Scotty Walden’s dynamic offense at UTEP. At the same time, he likely had a similar assumption about Boise State. Instead, Maddux Madsen, the No. 110 quarterback in his recruiting class in his third year in the program, beat him out. Now, Nelson stands as one of many cautionary tales for major college quarterback recruits in the transfer portal era.
Riley has a strong track record of developing strong quarterbacks, even for some who ultimately transfer. Spencer Rattler ended his career with nearly 11,000 yards and 77 touchdowns. Tanner Mordecai starred for SMU. Chandler Morris started at TCU and North Texas. It’s unclear how much agency Nelson had in his decision to leave last year, but he clearly did not reap the benefits of Riley’s quarterback development in only one year on campus.
Rashada, left, has spent two years at two programs and had a tumultuous recruitment beforehand.
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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/malachi-nelson-jaden-rashada-stand-as-cautionary-tales-for-ultra-hyped-qbs-who-fall-into-transfer-portal-trap/
Author : Shehan Jeyarajah
Publish date : 2025-01-07 13:50:00
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