Clemson football: It’s ‘game on’ in the race for 5-star QB Malachi Nelson

The Clemson football program has a major recruiting battle looming as the Tigers begin to set their sights on their top QB target for the 2023 class.

Though the Clemson football coaching staff hasn’t officially dished out an offer to a quarterback in the 2023 recruiting cycle, there are two who remain atop their board as we get closer to time for those offers to come to fruition: 5-star QB Arch Manning and 5-star QB Malachi Nelson.

Clemson has typically maintained that it won’t offer prospects until June 1st of that recruiting cycle and that’s what we can expect this year, as well, but it has been learned that the Tigers are in good position when it comes to the recruiting process of Malachi Nelson.

Nelson, who is rated as the No. 2 overall player in the nation by Rivals, has set two major visits for the summer: Clemson and Oklahoma.

It’s ‘game on’ for Clemson football as the Tigers try to beat out Heisman-factory Oklahoma for the highly-rated QB

Nelson is expected to take a visit to Clemson on June 4-5 and will throw for a session in Dabo Swinney’s camp. In addition, Nelson will visit Oklahoma in mid-to-late June as the Sooners host their annual ‘ChampU BBQ’ event.

Recruiting insiders have maintained the idea that Oklahoma is the leader in the clubhouse and much of that has to do with the groundwork Lincoln Riley has laid in the recruitment of Nelson.

That being said, if there is going to be a program who can challenge, it’s looking more and more like it will be Clemson.

Nelson, a California native, trains under the same QB coach who trained D.J. Uiagalelei and there’s no doubt that he has some major love for Clemson football, naming the Tigers one of his favorites despite not even officially holding an offer from the program yet.

It’s going to be interesting to see how his recruitment goes.

If it does come down to Clemson and Oklahoma, both have gaudy recruiting pitches in terms of their quarterback development. The Sooners have become known- in some circles- as ‘Heisman U’ for quarterbacks while the Tigers have won multiple National Championships and will have the No.1 overall pick (QB Trevor Lawrence) in this coming week’s NFL Draft to boast.

There may be a feeling that Oklahoma is in the lead, but Nelson’s visit tells us that Clemson is most certainly in the mix.

247 Sports’ Greg Biggins noted on Twitter that Nelson could make a decision as early as this summer.

It’s ‘game on’ for one of the nation’s best quarterbacks.