Lincoln Riley recently said that USC quarterback Malachi Nelson is “progressing much, much better” in preseason camp. Some people might think that Nelson was slow to learn the system or grasp the offense, but fresh details paint a different picture: Nelson was very physically limited and chose to play through pain to learn more about the offense instead of taking spring ball off, which he easily could have done.
Riley told 247Sports that in the spring, Nelson “was probably operating below 50 percent of his physical capability at that point. We’re glad that he went through it. He’s glad that he went through it. It certainly made him better.”
We all knew Nelson had surgery earlier in the offseason, but one of the main principles of sports competition is that if an athlete chooses to play or practice or otherwise participate in an activity, there is a presumption he is fit enough to compete. The counterbalance is that sometimes athletes participate in competition less because they think they can excel, and more because they feel they need to gain knowledge about the craft.
Nelson clearly chose this latter path. It sheds light on his evolution and should be an enormous source of optimism for the USC fan base, not to mention the coaching staff.
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