Oklahoma football: Top QB commit caps off giant OU weekend
By Chip Rouse
This past weekend turned out to be a huge recruiting bonanza for the Oklahoma football program, adding top prospects for both 2022 and 2023.
Related Story. Sooners await some big recruiting announcements. light
The perfect ending came on Sunday, when the Sooners landed their third five-star quarterback commit in the last three recruiting cycles. He was one of four recruiting commitments the Sooners received over the weekend.
As heavily anticipated, Malachi Nelson, out of Los Alamitos, California, near Los Angeles, announced his commitment to Lincoln Riley and Oklahoma on Sunday. Rated as the No. 5 prospect overall in the 2023 class and the No. 2 quarterback, according to the 247Sports Player Composite, is the second top-rated quarterback to pick the Sooners over other major suitors in a little over a year.
No. 1 QB prospect Caleb Williams committed to Oklahoma a little over a year ago and will likely be the primary backup to former No. 1 prospect and second-year starting quarterback Spencer Rattler this season.
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Since 2017, Oklahoma has featured two Heisman-winning quarterbacks and Heisman runner-up, followed by three consecutive five-star recruits at the position. Rattler was in OU’s top 10-ranked 2019 class; Williams is a member of the 2022 recruiting class, and Nelson is the Sooners’ second commit in the 2023 class. The Sooners’ 2022 class did not include a quarterback.
In consecutive years, Riley has gone coast to coast in landing top quarterback prospects from both the East Coast (Williams from Washington, D.C.) and now Nelson (from the Los Angeles area), demonstrating Oklahoma’s major influence in attracting top talent at the game’s most important position.
Nelson was being heavily pursued by a who’s who of major college programs, but chose Oklahoma and the influence of Riley over a host of college blue bloods that were on his list of finalists, including hometown USC, Ohio State, Notre Dame, LSU and Alabama.
As a sophomore a year ago at Los Alamitos High School, Nelson passed for 1,513 yards and 23 touchdowns and threw just four interceptions in 115 pass attempts.
"“Obviously we knew Lincoln as a football coach, we knew Oklahoma as a football program, but we didn’t know what Oklahoma was like,” Malachi’s father, Eric, told The Athletic.“We’re still from Southern California,” he said. “Oklahoma pleasantly surprised us as a family. The culture, the community, it felt right. it felt good.”"
Nelson’s commitment came a day after four-star running back Treyaun Webb became the first OU commitment in the 2023 class, choosing the Sooners over serious interest from Ohio State and Georgia. Webb, who is from Jacksonville, Florida, had originally committed to Georgia in November 2019, but asked out of that commitment this past January.
Later on Saturday, Oklahoma secured a 2022 commitment from 6-foot, 6-inch tight end Kaden Helms out of Bellevue, Nebraska. Helms selected OU over offers from Arizona State, Miami (Florida) and North Carolina.
The weekend recruiting bonanza was kicked off by the Friday commitment of Frisco, Texas, kicker Gavin Marshall, the 15th member of Oklahoma’s 2022 class.
The Sooners’ 2022 class ranks No. 5 currently, according to 247Sports, and is No. 1 in the early going for 2023.