The Syracuse Orange picked up a notable commitment on Friday afternoon. Former No. 1 overall recruit and former USC, Boise State and UTEP quarterback Malachi Nelson has committed to the Orange, according
to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The Los Alamitos, California native has two years of eligibility left.
ESPN ranked Nelson as its No. 1 overall recruit in 2023. They had Nelson ranked higher than notable quarterbacks such as Dante Moore, Arch Manning and Nico Iamaleava. Nelson committed to USC but only played one game behind Caleb Williams. He left the Trojans after one year and transferred to Boise State. However, Nelson lost out on the starting quarterback job to Maddux Madsen. Nelson only played three games with the Broncos.
Nelson transferred to UTEP after one year at Boise State. He won the starting quarterback job and started the first six games of the season. However, Nelson didn’t play afterwards as Skyler Locklear started the remaining six games of the season. Nelson threw for 1,163 yards with eight touchdowns and nine interceptions with a 54.7% completion percentage in his six games with UTEP.
While other recruiting services didn’t have Nelson as the No. 1 overall recruit out of high school, he was still a consensus five-star recruit. Nelson was also a consensus top-five quarterback in the class. 247Sports ranked Nelson as the No. 13 overall recruit, Rivals ranked him the No. 14 overall recruit and On3 ranked him the No. 30 overall recruit in the class of 2023.
Many fans would assume that Syracuse’s starting quarterback will be Steve Angeli. However, there isn’t a solid timeline yet that’s been made public on how he’s progressing from his achilles injury that he suffered in week four of the season at Clemson. The Orange have signed two quarterbacks from the transfer portal already in Kennesaw State’s Amari Odom and Georgetown’s Danny Lauter.
The Orange only have two other quarterbacks returning to the team other than Angeli. Joseph Filardi and Rich Belin are the other remaining quarterbacks from the 2025 Syracuse team. The Orange also have one quarterback coming in from the Class of 2026 in Zaid Lott.
Under the assumption that South Carolina tight end Michael Smith is joining the Orange, Nelson’s addition gives Syracuse 20 players committed from the transfer portal this offseason. Along with Odom, Lauter and Smith, Boise State/Glendale CC wide receiver Zamondre Merriweather, LSU running back Ju’Juan Johnson, Miami (OH) wide receiver Cole Weaver, Jackson State running back Ahmad Miller, Georgia State defensive tackle Jartavius Flounoy, Toledo linebacker Chris D’Appolonia, Florida State wide receiver Elijah Moore, UT Martin edge rusher Keyshawn Johnson, Maryland defensive lineman Dillan Fontus, Toledo defensive back Amare Snowden, Western Kentucky defensive back Nazir Ward, UNLV edge rusher Tunmise Adeleye, Penn State wide receiver Matthew Outten, UCLA offensive lineman Oluwafunto Akinshilo, Western Kentucky defensive back Jai Eugene Jr. and Western Kentucky tight end Nick Meyers are the Orange additions from the transfer portal.
The transfer portal closes today, January 16. Once the portal closes, players can no longer enter for transfer consideration unless a head coaching change is made. Any players that are in the portal by the deadline can still sign and commit to new schools. Players looking to join Syracuse will have to sign and enroll in classes by January 21, which is the add deadline, in order to be eligible to participate in spring practice with the team.
