Notre Dame offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees extended an offer to Los Alamitos (Calif.) High class of 2023 quarterback Malachi Nelson on Wednesday.
The 6-3, 195-pounder ranks as Rivals’ No. 2 overall player and top quarterback in the country. He has earned offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon and many others. Rivals lists Nelson with 25 scholarship offers.
Nelson is Notre Dame’s third quarterback offer in the class. The Irish offered New Orleans Isidore Newman School’s Arch Manning and Detroit Martin Luther King’s Dante Moore back in March during Notre Dame’s Pot of Gold recruiting day. Rivals ranks Moore as the nation’s No. 30 prospect, while Manning is the No. 3 player in the land, just one spot behind Nelson.
“There was a lot of debate about whether Nelson or Arch Manning should be the top quarterback in the class,” Rivals’ Adam Gorney wrote in March. “We sided with Nelson, and I think we made the right decision. He’s so smooth and cool in the pocket. He is such a precision passer and a playmaker that it’s hard to put any other quarterback ahead of him right now. Even if his last name is Manning.”
It’s early in Nelson’s recruiting process, but there are already two Rivals FutureCast predictions for Nelson to land at Oklahoma. Clemson may offer Nelson this summer, and USC is considered a factor in the recruitment as well.
During his six-game spring season in 2021, Nelson completed 85 of 115 passes (73.9 percent) for 1,513 yards with 23 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also added a rushing touchdown in leading Los Alamitos to a 6-0 record. Nelson was named to MaxPreps’ California All-State first-team offense. Los Alamitos was the champion of the Sunset League and was ranked No. 3 in the final Orange County football top 25 for the spring season.
During his freshman season in 2019, Nelson completed 64 of 148 passes for 883 yards with eight touchdowns and five interceptions.
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