Notre Dame gives offer to quarterback recruit Malachi Nelson

Another quarterback target for the Irish.

While Notre Dame tries to figure out its current quarterback situation, it hasn’t stopped trying to plan for the one down the road. It particularly would prefer that its latest quarterback target prevent any discussion about who should play the position during his time in South Bend. That target is Malachi Nelson, a pro-style quarterback from Los Alamitos, California. He received an offer after a discussion with Tommy Rees:

Notre Dame is the 26th school to make an offer to Nelson. However, both Rivals and 247Sports are convinced that Nelson is headed to Oklahoma, so the question is whether the Irish emerged too late in the game to have a legitimate shot at him. Other contenders for Nelson include Florida State, Miami, Florida, Texas, Ohio State, Arizona State, Arizona, NC State, USC, Michigan, Alabama and Penn State. With this analysis from 247Sports’ Greg Biggins, it’s not hard to see why so many programs are after him:

“Nelson has all the physical tools you could want in a next level signal caller. At 6-foot-3, 180 pounds, he has an athletic body with plenty of room to grow pack on good weight. He’s a very fluid athlete in everything he does. He has a smooth, effortless release and the ball jumps out of his hand. He has a downfield arm, is accurate to all three levels of the field and can throw with touch and change speeds. He’s a mature quarterback and already shows a high football IQ in terms of his decision making and how well he processes the position. He’s a plus-athlete for a quarterback as well and shows the ability to extend plays and get out and pick up yards in the running game. He made a big jump this off-season and needs to show he can put it together with the pads on as a sophomore but no quarterback in the class has a higher ceiling right now then Nelson.”