USC football has one of the most intriguing quarterback rooms in all of college football for the 2023 season. The starter will obviously be reigning Heisman trophy winner Caleb Williams, but the Trojans have the top player in the 2023 class coming in at QB, Malachi Nelson. Nelson obviously won't get a ton of playing time this year as Williams is perhaps the best player in all of college football, but USC fans are still very excited for his presence.

Malachi Nelson had surgery around eight months ago to repair a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder. It's been a long process to get back to 100%, and that process isn't quite complete, but head coach Lincoln Riley says that he's doing better amid USC camp.

“He’s progressing much, much better,” Riley said according to an article from 247 Sports. “Physically, it’s been a 180. I would say even mentally too. It was great for him to get the reps during spring. He 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.”

To go out and practice at under 50% as a true freshman takes a lot of guts. Nelson is clearly eager to go out there and prove himself at USC, and Riley is noticing that.

“I give Malachi a lot of credit, because with some of the physical limitations he had this spring, a lot of guys would have maybe tapped out or tried to save face and not even taken the reps,” Riley said during USC spring practices. “We and he, I think, understood the bigger picture that even though he wasn’t physically in a great place, for him to just get the reps and have to communicate and go through it was more important.”

USC football opens up the season on August 26th against San Jose State football. When Nelson is 100% and the Trojans are up big in late game situations, he will likely make some appearances, but he is third on the depth chart behind Miller Moss. Still, USC will definitely want to get him playing experience this season.